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ST. PETERS. THE BRIDGE AND CA5TLE OF ST./lNC&t,(^-:5\ _>,,_- 

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TO 

MRS. JOHN PAINE, 

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MOST RESPECTFULLY 

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|) r e f a c e- 



Reader ! had I travelled in the days of Montaigne, I might 
have been allowed like him, from the beginning of my jour- 
ney, to give the particulars of every stage and of my several 
resting-places ; to speak without offence even of the cheer I 
had met with and the wine I had drunk ; as well as to relate 
the news, incidents, stories, and marvels, I had learned on the 
way. But the prodigies of modern civilization, the rail-roads 
and the newspapers, no longer permit, and have in fact, almost 
proscribed, this part of a traveller's narrative. My adventures 
would appear common-place, my news out of date, my aston- 
ishment ridiculous. This peculiarity of the olden times cannot 
be tolerated now ; at the present day to keep faith with the 
public, a voyage must be indeed a book. 

I must confess, therefore, for the first time, gentle reader, 
the soft impeachment of having made a book, and I need not 
tax your patience any further, than to furnish a few hints, on 
the important subjects of voiturins, and the proper season for 
visiting Italy. 

First : in your treaty with the voiturin, a wTitten contract 
which ought to be worded with as much precision as the lease 
of a house, or an agreement with a publisher. The poet's 
precept is very applicable in the case of a voiturin's agree- 
ment : — 

" D'un mot mis en sa place enseigna le pouvoir." 



VI PREFACE. 



Secondly : though winter is the usual season for travelling 
in Italy, I would advise no one to follow this custom, unless 
going under the advice of a physician. The winter does not 
suit that fine country. 

It is, besides, my opinion, that different countries ought to be 
viewed with the climates peculiar to them — the hoary winter 
to Russia, the sun to Italy. 

But, by all means, try to find in Italy some artist, a painter 
or architect, sketching views, examining monuments on the 
spot instead of looking at them on paper, working, studying, 
and loosing the long days, a cheerful companion in mountain 
excursions, and the horrors of the locanda, or a passenger, like 
yourself, on board the rapid bark wafted to many a shore, 
famous in fable or his history, — such is the happy companion- 
ship that I wish to every real traveller ; and certainly he will 
find it more agreeable than that of the fashionables who only 
cross the Alps for the Scala of Milan, the Gascine of Florence, 
the Corso of Rome, the Chiaja of N'aples and other frivolous 
rendezvous of European or American vanity. 

" Nil ego contulerim jucundo sanus amico." 

I devoutly wish that my journal, which, from a careful pe- 
rusal of Valery, has swelled into a laborious work, after having 
been written in hours stolen from slumber, but not from my 
lawful profession, may help others to see Europe better and 
love America more ; for without loving, it is impossible to 
know either well ! 



€ n t t n t Q . 



PAGE. 

Dedication, ..o 3 

Preface, 5 

At Sea, 11 

IsiiE OF Malta, 21 

Sicily, ---- 51 

Naples, --.----.-75 

The Classic Coast, 103 

Rome, 109 

Excursion among the Sabine Hills, - - 193 

Road towards Florence, 221 

Florence, 246 

Environs of Florence, 301 

Florence to Bologna, 321 

Bologna to Venice, - 330 

Venice, 337 

Vignette, 484 



THE LAND OF THE CiESAR. 



AT SEA. 



On a bright moonlight night in the month of March, two 
travellers stood upon the deck of the steamer "Rameses," 
shortly after she had passed out of the port of Alexandria. 
Long and listlessly they watched the receding outlines of the 
low coast of Egypt, and mused in thoughtful observance, 
until the land was mingled with the ocean, as the two tall 
towers of the Farol and Diocletian's Pillar, reared their lone 
forms like spectres against the sky ; whilst the last faint 
twinkling of the beacon's light fled with quivering flashes into 
extinction, and the last glimmer of its meteoric train fell upon 
the sea, to token the departure of the receding continent of 
Africa. 

They were two friends who had wandered far from their 
early western homes into the hoary orient, and, now, met like 
Eothen, to dream on the broad bright bosom of the Mediter- 
ranean. Travers had journeyed into the Holy Land, and 
Clarence on the Mle, and they now viewed together the 
glories of that scene, with the transports of united hearts, and 
a communion of unbroken sympathies. 



12 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



Clarence, who was the first to break the stillness of that 
hour, observed the gushing sheen of that bright vision on the 
gleaming waters, and thus addressed his friend : — 

*' Travers, did you ever notice that the moon, when viewed 
upon water, casts her full shield at the foot of the beholder, 
and that her rays diverge from the eye of the spectator, en- 
larging the masses of broad, silvery waves, with increasing 
beauty in the distance ? Whence then this contrast with 
the sun, whose rays converge in contrariwise, as you ob- 
serve, at sunrise, when his full orb rushes with molten glory 
from the sea, and that his image is mirrored on the horizon, 
and old ocean is awakened by the expanding beams of his 
light r 

'' This philosophy of yours is passing strange, and new to 
me," said Travers, "although, doubtless, true. Is it because 
she shines by soft and coy-reflected light-^and, maiden-like, 
would lie at the foot of man — that we must view the sun afar, 
and her soft sheen much nearer, to our sight ? — So strange, 
indeed, is it, that the most famiUar phenomena of nature are 
overlooked by the casual and heedless traveller ; and we, who 
are wont to look upon ourselves as only admirable, are by 
ourselves so much obscured, that our own shadows dim the 
philosophy of earth, and leave us little but ourselves to study. 
Well saith the poet Hastings :~ 

* What exile from his native land 
E'er left himself behind ?' 

" Ever thus presumptuous man, relying on his own strength 
and glorying in boastful ignorance, is often tripped in his am- 
bitious schemes by some accident of thought." 



MOONLIGHT VIEW. 13 



III. 

Just then a veil passed over the surface of the sea. Was 
it a passing cloud ? So great obscurity betokened an eclipse. 
We looked for the moon : her cheerful light was hid by the 
disc of the intervening earth, and darkness moved upon the 
face of these waters, as when in primeval creation the sun had 
set upon the first day of this world's first dawn, and the moon 
had waited an attendant queen to grace his repose by her soft 
breathings through the nascent night. 

How like that evening's birth of creation was her returning 
light, as she again lighted up the firmament profoundly deep, 
as her soft sheen fringed over the disc of the revolving planet, 
and her moist eye opened with tremulous pulsations, and laved 
with showery pearls the expanse of sea, washing the welkin 
with waves of argent beauty. 

" The moon shines bright : — 

On such a night 
Troilus, methinks, mounted the Trojan walls. 
And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents, 
Where Cressid lay that night." 

— Merchant of Venice, Act 5. 

IV. 

Such was the scene on that placid night, while our travellers 
looked out on the serene repose of the ocean's slumber. The 
Mediterranean' was then calm as a summer's sea, and its 
broad sheen, which was only broken by the soft ripples of 
kissing winds, or the movement of light — sweet moonlight — 
dancing in accord with the billow's tones, opened as a mirror 
before our musing spectatoi. , and woke up reveries of Europe's 
carnage and of tyrant's blood, as if that surface had been 



14 THE LAND OF THE CJSSAR AND THE DOGE. 

cliauged by the wizard wand, and, like Medusa's Shield, had 
become the speculum of inhuman butcheries. 



How still that sea, amid continents of strife and revolu- 
tions on lands beyond ! — Ocean, in peace, but earth rocking 
with the ruins of empires and of tottering thrones ! The 
dreams of Sicily's freedom gleam across those waves. The 
reckless throbbings, of the, then, demoniac London and her 
Chartist mob, pulsates through that mystic air ; Austria's 
imbecile tyrant flies in the coursing breeze ; France staggers 
between anarchy, royalty and law, in the fluttering folds of our 
flaunting, reversed tri-color ; and at this moment Lamar- 
tine rises in the simple grandeur of majestic peace, and with 
the strong power of his eloquence, stills, through Grod's spirit 
inspiring man, the tempest of a troubled, stormy world. 
How grand his soul's nobility, amid the tortured elements 
of inhuman passions I How sublune a mission was given to 
this man, to be the apostle of his nation's peace ! 



VI, 

Thus mused the twain, whilst their gentle sympathies were 
but the faint whisperings of the ascending prayers, which were 
awakened in the hearts of all generous freemen ; and thus closed 
the first night of that undertaken-voyage, as the moon sunk in 
its ocean bed, with us, but rose to lighten another hemisphere 
beneath. 

VII. 

A different aspect clad the face of the waters, as the 
morning followed on the previous calm. Wildly howled the 
winds around our noble vessel, and hideously shrieked their 



CAPE PASSARO AFRICA. 15 

chidings through the yieldiug shrouds. The heavy thumps of 
convulsive waves battered with force our wooden walls, and 
our ship's staunch sides creaked with her travail and with 
opening strains. But no storms howl adversity to stout 
hearts, inured to the tempest's violence, and there is security 
to those who have confidence in their gallant vessel. 

Our fellow-travellers were soon seated with a goodly com- 
pany of strangers around the breakfast table. Our pipes and 
narguillees were soon out after our repast, and, a fig to the 
tempest, and a plague upon the storm ! while we sit snugly 
within our cabin, discussing eastern travel, or the troubles 
of the Republic. 

How these Frenchmen gabble about their Xew Constitu- 
tion, and what strange vagaries they form, where each man 
desires a constitution for himself, or frames a charter for each 
right of man ! What queer ideas they seem to have about 
Republics or elective franchise, and how like Utopia is the 
provisional government of France ! 

VIII. 

Xow again — now still stronger the storm rages, and our 
free ship tosses and pitches like a tormented giant, taunted by 
the wanton and lascivious waves. Each jolting shock batters 
the citadel of a heart, and the pallid lip and quivering eye 
show that confidence is gone ; and — wt are sick. What boot 
the revolutions of a world, or the flight of kings, when the 
stomach is unwell and counsellors are sea-sick ? What evil 
of human government is so desperate, that even sea-sickness 
cannot cure it ? Who holds our heads then ? 

Thus, at the Yernal Solstice, we felt the influence of the 
African headlands ; and their wild currents, forced into mid- 



16 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

sea, caused us to tremble on the way to Malta. N"o incidents 
but adverse winds occurred to mar our progress. We were 
well fed, well entertained, and cleverly associated ; and, on 
the evening of the fourth day, we espied the light tower of 
Malta. How wonderfully managed was the pilot's course ! — 
the vessel's point was directed to the port, her bearing was 
dead JN". N". E. ; not a point did her compass vary ; aye, the 
light is nearly ahead ! The heacon is now passed ! Straight- 
way and onward the steamer plunges in her course. Now she 
enters the narrow portals of the harbor. The paddle-wheel 
lags, splashes — backs — dashes ! the crank truckles — ^falls, 
and lazily halts — and she stops ! The light-house is behind. 
The order for dropping anchor is given : '' Give way !" — 
"Bown anchor!" — and away the clattering chain rattles to 
the sea, and the iron flukes plunge into the very deep. The 
sea riles at its mordant bite. Then all is still, for, at last, we 
are in Quarantine, off Malta. 



QUARANTINE HARBOR. 

LAZARETTO. 
L 

Morning broke upon our steamer as she sat in port with her 
stern almost touching the walls of the Lazaretto, about the 
middle of that narrow sea. The galleries and corridors of the 
" Hospital buildings" bounded one end of this land-locked bay, 
and rock-bound marginals embraced the blue waters of the 
Mediterranean, encircling within their barren arms this ap- 
portioned district of infection, whilst naked and arid chains of 
limestone, in the distance, ran with varying dips, until they 



THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS. IT 

clasped the outskirts of the town, and rose with abrupt and 

bristling outlines to that elevated cliff, above which St. Paul's 

church threw its bold steeple in high relief against the azure 

sky, and where its tall spire, together with the Light-house 

Tower, marked the utmost limits of the prominently impending 

Yaletta. This prospect was only cheered by the busy scene 

of our disembarkation. 

In a few moments the official boat came along side the 

" Rameses," and those who were detailed for Quarantine, at 

Malta, were taken to the landing by the Captain's boat. Our 

party consisted of an English family of three persons, namely, 

Lady C. and her two children, who were travelling with their 

tutor, dragomen and servants, an English clergyman and two 

Americans. 

II. 

As soon as we had been unladen we were shown to our 
room. We had no sooner been located within the wards of 
our several apartments, ordered our furniture from the keeper, 
and selected our dinner from the cuisine of the trattoria, than 
the '' Ariel" Steamship entered the pratique, bearing with her 
news from Europe of an exciting character. Greece itself 
was now in Revolution ! — The Emperor of Austria had abdi- 
cated I — Naples in a state of siege ! — Paris was unsettled, and 
Sicily rebellious still ! 

Such terrible news created much apprehension in the mind 
of the lady C, and in the midst of her alarm, in rushed the 
loquacious Captain of the " Rameses," and in breathless haste 
counselled, advised, urged, argumented, and finally persuaded 
the ladies that the quiet repose of intermediate Malta was no 
place for females, and that when Europe was in a ferment, the 
best course was to go to Africa, by way of Socialist Mar- 



18 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

seilles. Row natural it was for him to prefer his countrj, 
even in its present state of peril ! Much to our chagrin the 
loquacious Captain deprived us of the society of the English 
party. In a few moments their trunks and equipages were 
repacked, the Inspector's bill was settled for the whole term, 
the jolly-boat bore them away to the '' Frenchman ;" and it 
was with longing, wistful eyes and desponding hearts that our 
party of three watched the receding outlines of the " Kameses" 
as she paddled away under her full head of steam, and disap- 
peared behind the watch-tower, on the headland of Yaletta. 

We sunk under a sense of disappointment, fatigue, and soli- 
tude, which was only relieved by the appearance of our dapper 
and jolly Insjpedore, followed up by Bonavia, the Directore, and 

the dinner. 

III. 

Another hour is passed, and the '' Ariel'' then moves off 
with her passengers and mails for Egypt. Quarantine life at 
Malta, and its consolations of good cheer and pleasant views, 
alone remain for our party. 

We are now comforted by the pleasant information that our 
sojourn will be but six days, for our voyage from Egypt had 
been counted, and the fractions of the days of entrance and 
of departure. 

We now sat to work to make our apartments as comfort- 
able as possible. The original number of our company had 
engaged a large number of rooms ; and, as they had paid for 
their furniture and comforts, we resisted all attempts on the 
part of the keepers to remove their beds and carpets, and so 
disposed of them for our comfort, as to add to the luxurious 
adornment of our large saloon. We immediately constructed 
our dccwan for a lounge. Each one appropriated a ward for 



NEW LIGHTS IN PRISON. 19- 

his sleeping-room. The main hall was made our common as- 
sembling room, where books and pipes, table and deewan, were 
spread. What a sumptuous apartment it became ! Four 
huge mattrasses laid on the floor, were covered np bj cover- 
lets and supported by our bolsters and pillows ; and, on this 
couch of state, we read, reclined, chatted, smoked, spouted 
and laughed, through the livelong period of Quarantine. How 
like grand Turks we inhabited that hospital 1 How cheerful 
and agreeable, in comparison with all others, are the Lazaretto 
at Malta, the courtier-like manners of Boniface Bonavia, and 
the ro,gouts of his excellent trattoria ! 



The whole order of the regulations at Malta is admirable. 
Each passenger is furnished with a printed copy of the rules, 
from which you soon learn, that you are, first, counted and 
enrolled; are allowed to select your rooms, and to furnish 
them as you like. Conversation is permitted only at the 
Parlatorio, where you receive visitors and answer calls. Your 
clothes and other articles must be put on a horse and well 
aired, during the whole period of your probation. Your 
letters and papers are well smoked, and all notes addressed to 
you from abroad are held out to be read — but not touched by 
you, till after a strong fumigation, and at the end of the 
tongs by which they are presented. Your penance must be 
strictly observed and penitentiary well swept ; and any one 
breach of the regulations not only subjects you to a renewal 
of your term of imprisonment, but, as in the celebrated case 
of Captain Tate, may cause the whole island and town of 
Malta to be put in durance vile, and to be excommunicated 
from the rest of the world. 



20 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

V. 

Among the charms of the Lazaretto at Fort Manuel are 
the privilege which you enjoy of walking upon the ram- 
parts and of bathing in the sea, under the eye of a guardiano. 
But your highest pleasure is derived from the choice cooking 
and delicious ragouts, which are supplied at the trattoria by 
Giacchino the innkeeper, whose Carte will be always presented 
at breakfast, in order to allow your selections for dinner and 
the whetting of your appetite for supper. 

Thus provided at starting, we soon ceased to remember our 
absent friends, and began to busy ourselves with various and 
diverting occupations. My companions were both remarkable 
men in their way. The Oxonian clergyman, or " English- 
man," possessed the most remarkable memory that I have ever 
known ; and he displayed its powers with no little pedantry, 
by voluminous quotations from the classics, among whom Ho- 
race seemed to be his favorite. Possessing this poet on a 
most familiar footing, it only was necessary to give him one 
word in the middle of a satire to stir up his associations with 
the Latin muse ; and his ideas, like the unchained link of a 
broken watch, ran down to a stop only at the end of the 
works. 

VI. 

We had, therefore, no lack of ''classic hours" amid the 
shades of our retirement. 

My other friend had graduated at Heidelberg, and was on 
his return from travels in Palestine and Egypt. He showed 
evidences of scholarship and good taste in every conversation ; 
and during our stay, proved to my satisfaction that it would 
be to the advantage of every American to perfect himself in 
the modern languages, as well as to marshal his ideas of his- 



SKETCH OF MALTA, 21 



tory, prior to any lengthened sojourn in foreign lands. A 
course of history and geography at Berlin, or any other famous 
University, would certainly save many of our countrymen 
from the intrigues of the Parisian lorette, and lead others to 
think more of the amenities of travel than to boast of imagi- 
nary favors among grisettes, or conquest by moonshine inside 
of a diligence rotonde. It is truly surprising to listen to the 
tales of these travellers, and disgusting to hear of their adven- 
tures among bar-maids and " dames de comjptoirs^[ or " voyage- 
antes" With congenial habits, we all spent a cheerful life at 
the Lazaretto ; and we availed ourselves of our periods of 
leisure to sketch a history of the island upon which we were 
immured, 

SKETCH OF THE ISLE OF MALTA. 



Two hundred miles from the African coast, and about sixty 
from Cape Passaro, the most southern point of Sicily, Malta, 
with her attendant wards of G-ozzo and Commino, dominates 
with her fortresses, the peace of Europe. This island was well 
termed by Napoleon, the Key of the Mediterranean, and was 
taken by him on his way to Egypt, to allow him the control 
of the inimical and opposing continent. 

As it rises on that sea, in the longitude of 14° 31' E,, and 
latitude 35° 54' 46" N., its rock-bound coast bristles with an 
aspect of defiance, and, with its present strongholds, which 
have resulted from the accumulated labors of successive con- 
querors, it dominates the passes of the ocean with assuring 
prospects for the tranquillity of the world. 

Upon these three islands the lives of one hundred thousand 
souls depend, and its circumference of sixty miles embraces 



22 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

a crowded population, which is as wonderfully observed, as 
it appears difficult to find subsistence on that soil, and 
begets sui'prise in the student of human life to discover a cause 
for the maintenance of so numerous a people. Twenty-four 
towns, scattered at intervals about the island, lend an exceed- 
ingly picturesque aspect, when viewed from the heights of the 
prominent hills ; and, where belts of vegetation cluster 
among the rocks for nourishment, the valleys cheer the eye 
with the agreeable, happy effects of culture. The port con- 
sists of two harbors, which are separated from each other by 
the lofty promontory of Mount Xiberras, upon which Taletta 
is built. 

Marsamucetta is that on the Quarantine side, and the 
capital itself frowns over the waters of the great harbor of 
Yaletta, which is strongly guarded by the heavy cannons of 
Fort St. Elmo and the strong works of Fort Ricasoli. 

YALETTA. 



The town of Yaletta derives its name from the Grand 
Master of the Order of St. John, who founded it in 1566, 
(A.D.,) and also commenced the construction of the fortifica- 
tions about four months after the seige of the island by Sulei- 
man the Magnificent, which was conducted by his general, 
Mustapha of Buda. 

Eight different languages constituted the Order, and each 
occupied a separate auherge, which varied according to the 
taste and sumptuousness of each different commander. 

According to Homer, the island was first peopled by the 
Phoenicians. It was successively colonized by Greeks and 



PICTURES OF ITS HISTORY, 23 

Cartliagenians, and fell into tlie hands of tlie Romans during 
the second Punic war. 

In the year 454 of the vulgar era, after the fall of the Ro- 
man Empu'e, it was seized by the Yandals and Goths ; and 
in turn became part of the Eastern Empire, under BeHsarius. 

In the year ^80, (A.D.), it revolted to the Saracens ; and 
the presence of the Arabs left a permanent impression in the 
idiom of the country, which is still recognizable in that pe- 
culiar dialect, which, under a mixture of Arabic, Turkish, 
lingo-franco, and gabble, is proverbially known throughout 
the Mediterranean, as the Maltese. 

More lately it fell under the yoke of the Normans, and into 
the hands of the Grerman possessors of the throne of Sicily, 
and thence followed in event the fortunes of the House of 
Arragon and Anjou. 

In 1522 it was granted to the Order of St. John, after their 
expulsion from Jerusalem, under Grand Master Yilliers-de- 
L'ile-de-lAdam, and remained in the possession of the Cavaliers 
of Malta until it was surrendered to Napoleon, by the trea- 
chery and weakness of Hompesch, in 1798, when on his way 
to Egypt. Yarious fortunes followed the voluntary cession of 
the island to the British. It was, finally, sieged ; and, surren- 
dered to Nelson, under confirmation of this act, by the Con- 
gress of Yienna. Afterwards, having sustained one of the 
most memorable sieges on record, and been fearfully ravaged 
by the plague, under the administration of Sir Thomas Mait- 
land, it was taken by the English in 1800, and in their posses- 
sion it now remains. 

III. 

Such were the curious events in history, which passed over 
this stronghold of English Empire, and there is scarcely an 



24 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AXD THE DOGE, 

inch of the island that is not walled up or fortified. The port 
of Yaletta is one of the finest in the world, and the largest 
ships of the line lie within its arms, fearless of wind or weather. 



This little epitome of its history, together with our books, 
pipes, visits, and mutual narrations of our past and travelled 
experience, filled up a delightful episode in our prison-life, 
and varied the leisure of many vacant hours. 

Most of the time the weather was extremely dull, and the 
cheerful light of our souls alone brightened the halls of our 
gloomy wards. Whenever sunshine broke through the masses 
of heavy clouds, it was only to animate an angle of the bas- 
tioned heights, and to throw, in bold relief, the graceful spire 
of St. John's Cathedral. 

At one time we endeavored to hire a boat, to relieve our 
weariness, by rowing about the harbor, and sought, from the 
keeper, permission to be towed under the eye of a guardian o ; 
but Casolani was stern in his refusal, and excused his denial 
by a woeful description of the conduct of Captain Tate. His 
violation of the pratique will doubtless be handed down to 
posterity as the breach of Tate, or as bad as " la mal de tete," 
and every traveller will be silenced in his petitions, by a 
citation of this case. 

IV. 

A visit to one of our Egyptian companions, who had suc- 
ceeded us in Quarantine, led us to the Parlatorio, to converse 
behind the railings. We found Captain P. of the army, in a 
separate ward, with his wife, who described to us what a de- 
lightful time they had spent among the sheets of the British 
newspapers. 



LANDING AT THE CITY OF MALTA. 25 

The continuation of a violent sirocco, which had been blow- 
ing for two days, led us to observations about the winds and 
currents of the Mediterranean ; and our short stay proved 
pregnant in the history of storms ; for the Levant blew with 
its accustomed violence, and all the winds and weathers of 
Malta exercised themselves, for our benefit, during the six 
days we remained. 

Glad were we, therefore, at the expiration of the sixth day, 
to receive the order for our liberation, and hastily we packed 
up our trunks, in order to depart from the steps of the Laza- 
retto. We were, indeed, fortunate in our short trial, for we 
were the second party who had enjoyed the benefit of a cur- 
tailed pratique, and right happy were we to escape from the 
halls of that gloomy imprisonment, and to enter our boats, 
in order to be rowed thence to the city landing. With the 
exception of a rough swell of the sea, and an opportunity of 
enjoying some of the importunities of the boatmen, the strong 
and harsh dialect of the Maltese, and a highly-amusing alter- 
cation among some very excitable and animated market- 
women, we were landed at the foot of the Marsamucetta 
stairs, without any incident or upset. But the moment we 
reached the platform we were besieged by a crowd of hungry 
porters, or facchini, who seized upon our baggage by separate 
pieces, and without asking for license or for rates, thus pos- 
sessed of all of our dunnage at hand, rushed up the long stone 
stairway, in breathless haste, to the top. We felt somewhat 
relieved from our sudden surprise upon learning, that there was 
an established tariff for each trunk or valise, and a rapid cal- 
culation soon forced us to silence, and to a more leisurely pur- 
suit after the luggage, which was then rapidly disappearing, 
in dim perspective, up the steep ascent of the " Beggar's Lad- 



26 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

der — the counter-part stairway to the Nix Mangiare stairs on 
the opposite side of the town, where a more precipitate de- 
clivity and some crazy stone steps, are the fixed and stationary 
posts of all the beggars, ladroni, porters, lazzaroni, cripples, 
loafers, and varlets of Malta. 

V. 

While stopping to rest on the many platforms of these 
stairs, we took occasion to admire the fine outlines of Fort 
Manuel, and cast some long vistas over the walls of the city 
itself, as it stretched beneath us in the direction of the 
Point and Light-house ; and then continued on, varying our 
views with our ascent, until we reached the level of the city 
proper. 

What a strange aspect was presented as we took our direc- 
tion towards the Hotel ! What a jumble of houses, women, 
priests, artisans, clamorous languages, lingo-franco, gabble, 
donkeys, porters, volantes, mantillas, duenas, horses, carts, 
verandahs, churches, processions, trades, occupations, din, 
noises, troops, friars, nuns, &c. ! Every tenth man seemed a 
priest — or a religious — and wore on his head a segment of a 
stove-pipe for a hat. Through this strange melange, and al- 
most transfixed by the sudden apparitions of humanities — 
which differed so entirely from what we had seen in Egypt, 
and was rendered doubly striking from the empty void of our 
Quarantine life — we, at last, reached the hospitable porch of 
Dunsforth, in the "Strada Reale." 

VI. 

Having quietly seated ourselves at a window overlooking 
the highway, we enjoyed the active movement in the street 



PALACES AND GRAND MASTER. 2t 

below, where we were particularly struck with the mantilla 
head-dresses of the women, which covered their whole face 
and figure, and resembled the tbhs of the Cairenes ; while 
volantes, curious vehicles of a chaise-like construction, with 
very long shafts, were variously drawn along by mules and 
horses, and were conducted by postillions, who ran beside each 
vehicle, on foot. The many curious objects thus presenting 
themselves from our post of observation, soon disposed us to 
visit the various interesting sights of the town. Shortly after 
the comfortable enjoyment of a quiet English breakfast, we 
started out for the '' Circulating Library," that bibliothe- 
quical depository so well known all over the Mediterranean, 
from the universal presence of its books. Here, having sup- 
plied ourselves with certain general and reliable information 
about the city, we proceeded to visit the Palace of the Grand 
Master, which is now used as the residence of the Governor 
General — a man of equal importance and more chivalrous 
conduct than history records of the renowned L'ile-de-1'Adam. 
We were ushered, after entering this mansion, into the apart- 
ment of the Grand Hall, a large oblong room, which was 
shabbily furnished, and around its walls, portraits of all the 
former Grand Masters of the Order of St. John, were hung. 
"We stopped only to admu*e a superb Caravaggio, and then, like 
all eager sight-seers, we ascended by a flight of very lengthy 
stairs to the roof of the building, in order to get a sweeping 
panorama of the position of the island, and of the topography 
of Yaletta. On the platform — which was occupied both as 
an observatory, and as a telegraphic station — we were civilly 
received by the ofi&cer on duty, and through the aid of his 
telescope, all the points of that extensive prospect were placed 
under our complete command. 



28 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

THE TIEW FROM THE PALACE TOP. 
VII. 

There are few spots on earth that fill the eye with more 
earnest interest than that of Malta. To the northeast of the 
island, lies Yaletta's Port, being separated from the harbor 
of the Marsamucetta, by the prominent tongue of land on 
which Yaletta stands. This point is terminated by the Light- 
house, and Fort Elmo which guards the approach to both 
havens. On the south side of the Grand Harbor are two 
peninsulas of rock pointing towards Yaletta, under the shelter 
of whose bay-like, ships ships of the largest tonnage can ride 
with security. Castle St. Angelo and the town of Yittorioso 
crown one height ; and on the second, Sanglea's village over- 
looks the strong lines of Buomulo, which rise encircled by the 
fortifications of the Cotonera. Platforms, terraces, videttes, 
watch-posts, bastions, escarpments, towers, fortresses, armed 
walls, the rock-hewn look-outs and deep-mouthed caverns 
bristle with defiance, under the array of formidable cannons. 
Every point is embattled ; every rock presents an aspect of 
suppressed thunder. Thence looking down upon the town be- 
neath us, we saw the solid cubes of their stone houses, with 
their flat roofs falling in succession with the declivity of the 
island, until the whole town presented the appearance of a 
consolidated castle cut out of the rock that forms the island. 

The effect of the Grand Port was imposing, and the whole 
offered a view of rare and highly picturesque interest. Wall 
upon wall, and bastion upon bastion, watch the approach of the 
narrow entrance. It would be impossible for any ship to enter, 
either by night or day, without observation. The opening is 
scarcely 250 feet across, and every vessel must pass close to 



ARMORY -CARAVAGGIO. 29 



the forts, wliereby slie would be shivered into ten thousand 
fragments, if an attempt to force a passage were ever made. 
No nation could overcome its strength, but by the power of 
a superior navy : England only obtained possession through 
the united agency of a combined fleet and a shameful be- 
trayal by its commander. 

VIII. 

The land-approaches are equally well guarded as those 
from the sea ; and from the narrow neck of rock upon which 
Yaletta rises, the country stretches out for miles, and is co- 
vered with numerous hamlets and villages. 

After having passed a full hour in the enjoyment of this 
rare and interesting scene, with thrilling transport of eye and 
heart, occasioned by the perception of its richly-colored sky 
of the serenest blue, and of the bright waves of the placid 
sea, in a climate of exceeding loveliness, we descended into 
the interior of the palace, in order to obtain a sight of the 
armory. 

ARMORY AND SIGHTS. 
IX. 

Upon entering the chamber in which the ancient armor of 
the Order and that of other nations and people are collected, 
we were somewhat surprised to find there, neither, so curious 
an array, or such splendid suits as one might have been led 
to have expected in this city of the Knights of Malta. The 
cabinet, although small, was well arranged ; and our atten- 
tion was chiefly directed to the armor of Yignacourt, it being 
the same as that which he wore when painted by Caravaggio. 
The painting, so very remarkable for the perfect finish of the 
steel, hangs in the same apartment. A few Turkish or other 



30 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AXD THE DOGE. 

curiosities, ornament this room, which is hung in rich antique 
tapestry, and contains little else to attract but a queer old 
copper cannon, secured and strengthened by brass bands, 
which were bound together by tightly-wound ropes, and these 
again encased with a exterior coating of lime and leather. 

Beyond the Armory, and in the Library, were about ten 
thousand volumes, which had been gathered from the private 
collections of the Knights, wherein several curious missals and 
manuscripts struck our attention. We were more interested 
in the Museum, and a room occupied with a small but rare 
number of antique relics that had been found on the islands of 
Malta and Gozo, Besides a rare Phoenician monument, seve- 
ral headless figures from Crendi, and a few altars with parallel 
Greek and Punic inscriptions, we met with two fine Roman 
bas-reliefs and two terra-cotta coffins, among the other objects, 
of various styles and epochs. 

After we had passed down the grand stairway from the 
magnificent ball-room of the Government House, we escaped 
into the open air, to be struck with the peculiar brilliancy 
of the sky, sea, and soil of the city. The bright and glaring 
limestones of which the houses are built, render its too great 
intensity of sunlight painful to the sight, and its glaring 
effects are only relieved by glimpses that are continually to 
be had of the blue sky and deeper blue of the sea, from the 
streets ; for you pass always along the crest of the promon- 
tory on which the city stands. Within the inner city, there is 
no relief from these striking and painful effects on the sight 
but projecting balconies, with their striped white and blue 
verandah -awnings and window-shades ; and very little or no 
comfort in your longing and wistful looks at them, except it 
be the satisfaction of having seen a few bright eyes peering 



BOOK COCKNEY, AND MUSIC. 31 

out under the folds of a black silk mantle, covering the features 
of some bewitching Maltese brunette. 

CATHEDRAL. 
X. 

We were glad to shelter ourselves within the vestibule of 
the old Cathedral of St. John, and while our nostrils were 
regaled by the fumes of burniug incense, offered up by myste- 
rious priests at the altar of a Roman hearth, we could not 
but cast a few reflections over the kneeling figures around us, 
or a few inquisitive glances under the veils of the ladies at 
their oraisons. Three observations claimed our special re- 
mark : — that, the intrusion of an Englishman, with a red 
morocco ''Murray's" Guide's Book, into the holiness of the 
sanctuary, who stalks about through priests, and over women 
and chairs, and wends his way, always intent upon sight- 
seeing, as a Cockney after sport, is, to say the least, indelicate ; 
and that too, in spite of the urgency of your Cicerone, w^ho 
whispers continually, ^^ Non "porta niente,^^ (''It does not mat- 
ter.") It is unbecoming a Protestant or a gentleman — even 
should he be visiting the inside of a Romish Church. Se- 
condly, it always occurred to us, that very few males ever 
entered the interior of a church abroad, excepting very old 
men with white locks, and a few cripples near the door. 
Thirdly, we thought, that, even amid the paraphernalia of 
the Roman Catholic Church, its Latin chantings, perfumery, 
pageant, mumbling priests, and ceremonials, there must be in 
every spot on earth some cloister for the heart ; and that the 
prayers of the poor, the supplications of the lowly, confiding, 
meek and humble penitent would rise through all the veils, or 



32 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

schemes, of macliinery of man's invention, so as to reach the 
ear of a merciful and forgiving God. We have some faith in 
the silent incense of the heart, and often, when within the fanes 
of the ancient temples, or amid the demi-religious light of 
Gothic shrines, it was no uneasy stretch of fancy for our 
thoughts to wonder up the moving sunbeams, which dropped 
like feriel webs from their high, remote windows, and to pic- 
ture forth upon the shadowy lines of their showery, gauzy, 
veils, the forms of ascending and descending angels, freighted 
with love to the penitent, or charged with errands of mercy 
to the soul. These were our Jacob's ladders for their souls, 
and we have struggled with emotions strong and deep which 
throttled our apprehensions and our fears ; and our prejudices 
have vanished when we thought that the heart had every- 
where, its own pure offspring of incense, silently ascending to 
heaven from its burning censer, and acceptable on high ; for 
although unseen by mortal vision ; unkent, by alien man is " the 
broken spirit, and the contrite heart" of a repentant sinner. 

XI. 

Thus, whilst we stopped to admire the curious parts of the 
floor, where the arms of all the Grand Masters, were beauti- 
fully inlaid in various colored marbles, we obtained some 
instruction in the heraldry of that age, for this church has 
contributed largely to the illustrations of the books in the 
Herald's Court. After having overlooked the tombs of seve- 
ral of the Knights, and surveyed the sarcophagus of Ile-de- 
I'Adam in the crypt, we obtained a privileged sight of the 
rich old tapestry hangings of the church, which are, usually, 
only to be seen at the exposition on the feast day of St. John. 
Beyond these, a rich, massive, silver railing, in the Chapel of 



CEREMONIAL OF THE ARTIST's KNIGHTHOOD. 33 

the Madonna, at the east, vras minutely examined — while onr 
guide related the cause of its preservation during the French 
occupation, when it was whitewashed and painted over, so as 
to conceal the nature of its rich material. 

XII. 

The painting of the Beheading of St. John hanging on a 
wall in the side chapel, reminded us of an anecdote of the 
ceremonial of the artist's knighthood, which is as curiously 
concocted as any of those numerous tales that illustrate 
the lives and passions of distinguished painters. It is a 
good painting, but badly preserved. It is said, that the 
artist painted it, upon condition of his being made a Knight 
of Malta, but in consequence of the following occurrence : — 
One of the Knights having offended the artist, the latter chal- 
lenged him to single combat, and satisfaction having been 
refused on the plea that he was not worthy to meet his noble 
antagonist, Caravaggio, sought to obtain that rank which 
should put him on an equality with his rival. He applied to 
the Grand Master, therefore, in order to obtain admission to 
the Order. It was granted, on condition that he should paint 
this picture. When it was executed, he became a Knight and 
fought his duel ; but in order to diminish the value of the 
work which was forced from him under such humiliating 
terms, by the pride of the Knights, he painted the "Behead- 
ing" on cotton canvas. Hence its present state of decay, 
and the difficulty of its preservation. Such is the story. The 
fact that he painted the picture is as certain as Caravaggio 
himself. 



34 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

xm. 

Our walk from the churcli to tlie terrace heights of Yaletta, 
overlooking the shipping of the Great Harbor, presented 
one of those strangely sudden contrasts which are so frequent 
in travel, and closely assimilate the experience of each hour of 
idleness to the conflicts of the human heart between peace and 
the battles of life. What a change from the solemn myste- 
ries and reverential silence of the sanctuary, to the grim 
aspect of full-mouthed cannons, this range of ramparts, bar- 
racks, fortifications, ships of the line, and all this formidable 
array for grim death, and the fearful contest ! And how soft 
is the relief, even, here presented, before these visions into war, 
where the pelluced azure of heaven mingles with the bright 
deep blue of the sea, and light clouds of gossamer form lightly 
float, to consort with the white-capped and leaping billows 
which break against the walls of the fortress ! This view 
from the terrace always commanded our most thrilling emo- 
tions. And no less powerful to awake our sympathies were 
the graves of the brave admirals on the centre of the platform, 
who had died here in the service of their country and, afar, 
from England, their sea-girt home. 

" A tear for the brave, the gallant and free, 

From soft maiden's eyes, or stout manly heart ; 
And deep sighs, like the winds, o'er Ith'yan sea : 
Such requiems, brothers, Britons impart." 

XIV. 

No less striking in the retrospect than fact, is that singular 

confusion of images and objects which crowd into the hours of 

idleness, as the traveller is hurried from sight to sight, on 

some curious spots of earth. The mind becomes kaleidoscopic 



35 



in its perceptions ; and each vague stare obtains for the pos- 
session of the sigiit, the gratification of many other senses, 
and a scope of interest, as miscellaneous, as it is startling with 
emotions of pleasure and surprise, or, oftentimes, with dis- 
taste and disgust. 

XV. 

"We could not but feel the effect of this changling senti- 
ment, as we hurried by the deserted auberges of the ancient 
Knights, which were now occupied by the officers of her ma- 
jesty's regiments, and walked onward to refresh our eyes, 
amid the parterres, flowers, walks, hanging vines, and fes- 
tooned bowers of the cheerful gardens of the Florianna. 
Such a sweet spot contrasted kindly with the images of war, 
commerce, priestly mummery, and misery which we had pre- 
viously enjoyed, and offered us repose after that throbbing of 
the eyes which fatigues even the most obdurate and confirmed 
virtuoso. The avenues of these gardens hung on the outskirts 
of the city walls, and formed an oasis of cultivated beauty 
amid the glaring hot walls of limestone buildings, and strong 
forts which surrounded them. ]S"ot less pleasing was it to 
view the use of their perfumed arbors, by the gallants of the 
isle, as they walked within their fair parterres, or sat under 
the trellised vines, and made love to the Maltese, with full, 
liquid eyes, which opened like pearls under the drooping folds 
of their coy mantillas. From what spot on earth is the soft 
passion absent ? and how fitting the abode of love, amid the 
embowered secrets of the rich flora of the south, or among 
the many isles of the laughing and frolicking sea I How 
suitable, again, to find its scenes in that same island, wherein, 
is Calypso's Grotto." 



36 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

XVI. 

While amused with the passing scenes of the garden, my 
companion left me for a visit to a Capuchin Convent. As I 
never had any partiality for grave subjects, I was content to 
hear his description of this order of recluses ; who, it seems, 
have a custom of embalming their fellow-monks, and have 
them set in coffins, by ranks, in files, so as to be viewed by the 
living brothers, in all the ghastly deformity of their mummied 
bodies. To those brethren, who are still alive, they present 
the most satisfactory images of cloaked skeletons and death's- 
heads ; and the Capuchin guide who introduced my friend into 
this museum of posthumous anatomies, evidenced a composure, 
equivalent to sang froid, when he recalled the names of the 
more recent occupants of these obituary cells, and very calmly 
pointed out the particular spot which he himself expected to 
occupy. Truly, familiarity v/ith unearthly subjects, breeds dis- 
respect of Death itself, and there are few topics which do not 
become revolting and distasteful, when coupled with too great 
frequency of vision. The Capuchins, we thought were the 
least offensive of all the religious mendicants, that we saw 
abroad, and they have often excited our sympathies from the 
excessive homeliness of their persons, the slovenly habits of 
their dress, and from the striking camel-like similitude in their 
dromedary gait, character and aspect. Bound in robes of 
dingy brown cloth, which were encircled at the waist by a 
dirty white cord, with tassels, and wearing the cowl, thrown 
aside of their shorn, but always uncovered heads, the Capu- 
chine always looked to us, much like a cloaked yellow-jacket 
wasp when alive, and when dead, more like an Egyptian mum- 
my than a skeleton. 



VISIONS OF NIGHT MARE. 3t 

XVII. 

On our return to tlie hotel, we found various topics of con- 
versation to while away the hours after our late dinner, and 
were so heartily tired of Maltese sights, that we were all soon 
glad to go to bed in order to dream about the many strange 
and wonderful things which we had viewed, and to be soon 
enveloped in a cloudy conglomerate of visions, mingled with 
our waking thoughts and dreams, in which Maltese crosses, 
silver filigrees, with Knights Templar, Saracens, flag-poles, 
barracks, deep-mouth guns, men-of-war, hollow-eyed Capuchin 
mummies, antiquities, and terra-cotta vases, flitted through our 
troubled brain, and floated together disjunctively, amid the most 
enrapturing glances from dark eyes under blacker mantillas ; 
whilst ghosts of red-coated soldiers, sailors, facchini, volantes, 
and donkeys, danced and reeled through the mazes of our 
night-revels, until exhausted nature found oblivion and sweet 
slum.bers in the folds of a comfortable English bed. 

DRIVE OUT IN THE COUNTRY. 
XVIII. 

It was not a volante, but a proper hackney-coach that bore 
us away late on the next afternoon to visit the grottoes and 
the more distant shades of the catacombs. We were not run 
after by a hallooing and yelping tyrant tiger postillion, lash- 
ing the horses, or goading the mules, but we were properly 
trotted out of town by a suitable driver, a proper coachman, one 
who would have done honor to a Dowager, and quite fat 
enough to have sat on a box before certain pouting beauties, 
in their drives, before dinner, through Hyde Park. 



38 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



XIX. 

Quite briskly we were driven out to Citta Yecchia, and, 
by the way, found abundant opportunities to get views of the 
position of the land, and of the peculiar dip of the pervading 
and prominent strata of limestone. What little soil we no- 
ticed, had been so assiduously collected together and nicely 
terraced up by small stone walls, as to present every portion 
of its surface to the influence of the sun ; and a culture of the 
vegetation was made so as to husband every particle of earth. 
The most noticeable quantity or mass of soil, had been dis- 
tributed through the main or principal valley of the island ; 
and this vast artery appeared, as if it had been caught in a 
great geological fault, as it lay embraced within the arms of the 
two great chains of rock, on the island, which is intersected by 
cross-ranges of limestone, at various points. From elevated 
points by the road-side, we "had obtained an extensive view 
of this rich channel of vegetation, animating the face of 
the whole country, and had frequent cause to admire the in- 
dustry and economy of the islanders in thus making the most 
of their barren and sterile island. It seemed as if they had 
brought every stone into requisition, and that the rocks had 
been coaxed up, either for their share of fortification, or to be 
used as platforms on which to plan the foundations of the 
terraced gardens. The effect of this minute and elaborate 
cultivation lent a pleasing and picturesque aspect to all our 
prospects over the land ; and the intersecting chains of lime- 
stones, when filled up by occasional groves of olive, clusters 
of hanging parterres, fertile steps of luxuriant vegetation, 
and occasional groups of festooned flowers and flowing palms, 
with figs and fruit of many colors, increased the beauty 
of our rapid glimpses, as we hurried swiftly on towards the 



PASTURAGE, AND CATTLE FROM BARBARY. 39 

end of our promenade. Our astonishment was somewhat 
heightened upon learning that all the soil had been imported 
from Sicily. Even, with the aid of this foreign earth, they 
can scarcely produce sufficient fruit and vegetables for their 
own consumption, or enough feed for the pasturage of large 
droves of cattle ; which fodder, in the shape of a delicious and 
nutritious clover, nourishes all the beasts of the island. The 
cattle themselves are, no less exotic than the soil upon which 
they feed, having all been brought over from Barbary, when 
young. 

XX. 

Before we had arrived at Citta Yecchia we saw some of the 
twenty-four villages that are dotted about the island, some 
of which are quite large and thickly populated ; a few are in- 
significant, with only a few hovels ; but each boasts of a church 
whose plan is monstrous, and immeasurably disproportionate 
to the size of the village, but not to the religious wants of the 
inhabitants. 

We pass over any mention of numerous swift-footed paupers, 
who ran after our carriage in the hope of obtaining a copper, 
for vagrancy is so common throughout the continent of Eu- 
rope, that it may be considered as a national establishment, 
which has been instituted under the patronage of strangers 
and travellers. 

We halt only to give due credit to the perseverance of 
one beggar, who remained by our carriage window for about 
three miles, and him, we were somewhat surprised to be- 
hold, on alighting from the vehicle, at the doors of St. Paul's 
church. 



40 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE, 

XXI. 

Having bestowed a gratuity upon this mendicant, as a re- 
ward for his velocipede importunity, we entered inside the 
Chapel, where we were led about by the old cicerone or ser- 
vant of the sanctuary. He afterwards conducted us down 
into the Grotto of St. Paul, wherein, as our guide related, 
"the apostle of the Gentiles had performed penance during 
a period of three months." There was nothing peculiar to be 
seen, to vary the nature of this cavern from other holes in the 
ground, but the striking feature of its accretion, or depository 
soil; "for," said our valet, "it is a remarkable fact, that 
however large or numerous are the fragments of the rock 
which are removed by curious visitors, it is positively true 
that the size of the cave has, in no whit, diminished." This 
constancy to its original form has been, no doubt, materially 
aided by a continual renewal of the plaster-work on the roof, 
and the uncertain and unconditional proportions of a grotto 
which has been favored more by art than by nature. 

XXII. 

In the crypt, a clever statue of St. Paul displayed the talent 
of a Maltese sculptor ; and, far more interesting than either 
grot or cavern, were some interesting relics of the Knights 
chevaliers, which were exhibited in the church, where they 
were first deposited by them, when, as refugees, they had fled 
from Rhodes. As we drove away from the cave, through the 
suburbs of Rabbato, where St. Paul is said to have dwelt as 
the guest of Publius, then "chief man of the island," the furi- 
ous onset of a gang of hungry cripples upon our small change, 
caused us to reflect, and aroused a suspicion that the popula- 
tion of this quarter was still no less savage than in the days 



CURSE OF THE BEGGAR. 41 

of the Apostle, with this saving exception, from their former 
treatment of the Saint, that " these barbarous people showed 
us no kindness at all, although they did kindle within us the 
fires of our indignation." 

XXIII. 

There was no other remedy for these importunities than a 
walk towards the neighboring Catacombs, where a strong 
gate, at a narrow lane, and a rapid descent under ground, 
soon interposed, and rid us of these scamps. 

These subterranean passages, or Catacombs, were very exten- 
sively laid out, and their distribution into corridors, halls, 
chambers, sepulchral niches, domes, and saloons, indicated that 
they must not only have been used as burial places, but for 
the purposes of habitation and worship. One apartment was 
evidently intended for a church ; and there is even now a tra- 
dition afloat, that these grottoes were excavated by the early 
Christians, who fled to them in order to escape from per- 
secution. In point of fact, we could never reduce our taste to 
underground topics, and we are the less particular in our de- 
scription of these " suburbs of the dead, from the accompany- 
ing chills and damp disgust, which always caused us both to 
shudder and shiver when in them, and made us anxious to 
escape as soon as possible, to a purer air and a brighter sky." 

XXIV. 

Alas, for our hurry to get out ; we only escaped from one evil 
to oppose another ; for, outside the wicket were the same 
crowds of mendicants, who had previously besieged us in flocks, 
and now were more vociferous and clamorous, with their 
shrieks for Carita ! Carita ! Povero ! Signor ! &c. ; and pro- 



42 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

minent amid them, the figure of our shadow, who had already 
ran three miles with the phaeton, was conspicuous. They and 
he were sadly disappointed, for we gave them nothing but 
thanks for the many kind wishes they had showered upon us, 
and drove away only to hear the echoes of their curses and 
imprecations ; so soon doth the petitioner-beggar change his 
blessings into curses, when the wish does not prove father to 
his hope. 

XXV. 

Taking it for granted, for we always started with the most 
unlimited stock of faith in our travels, in that confidence, 
which is both the security and happiness of the traveller, we 
stopped awhile outside the Cathedral of St. Paul, which was 
built on the site of the Governor Publius' Palace, and thence 
directed our course by an irregular cross-road, which ran 
through a richly cultivated valley, in the direction of St. Paul's 
Bay. We believe every body has read of the Apostle's ship- 
wreck on the island of Melita. Owing to the rocky nature of 
the coast, we were obliged to descend from our carriage, and 
to walk towards the sea-shore, in order to obtain a more cor- 
rect idea of the locality of this remarkable event. 

XXVI, 

The bay itself, which was formed by a gentle indenture of 
the coast at this point, presented a highly picturesque aspect, 
at the hour in which we visited it. The sun was about sinking 
into the sea behind the two pretty little islands of Gozzo and 
Comino, which approached so near together, as almost to form 
another gulf in their neighborhood to the Capes of Malta ; 
and, as the last warm touches of sunlight, gilded the castle 
walls of the watch-station, on the heights, which rose on our 



THOUGHTS ON SHIPWRECK. 43 

left, and stood, in bold relief, prominently out upon the top of 
tlie impending bluff of the main island, the bright influences 
of that thoughtful hour, lent easy faculty for memory to pic- 
ture forth on that placid sea, a vivid sketch of the scene of the 
shipwrecked Paul. 

XXVII. 

In that calm eventide, the mind dwelt with peculiar interest 
upon the life and action of the Apostle and his mission, It 
was not difficult to mark the site of the foundered vessel — to 
picture the mariners afloat and swimming to the shore. Then 
again, just under the shelter of the castle's towers, on the shelv- 
ing beach, where two fishermen were then hauling their boats 
into harbor, we could easily rekindle the fierce flashes of the 
stubble-fire, around which the barbarian islanders were seated, 
when they received the Saint with simple hospitality. That 
castle on the hill, was doubtless, the ancient stronghold of the 
governor. 

We have never entertained a doubt of the identity of Melita 
and Malta, in spite of the disquisitions of learned doctors or 
divines ; and have, therefore, taken the question of locality as 
proved, from the remarkable coincidences which we observed 
between the site of the shipwreck and the description which 
has been left us in the Acts. The peculiar character of the 
spot, "that certain creek, with a shore into which they were 
minded to thrust the ship ; their fallmg into a place where two 
seas met," which corresponds so precisely with the cross-cur- 
rents running together, between the isles of Gozzo and Mal- 
ta. The proximity of Syracuse, the next place sought by the 
Castor and Pollux, after the termination of the Apostle's so- 
journ of three months, and the successive mention of Rhegium 
and Puteoli on the coast of Italy, clearly satisfied our minds that 



44 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

the Apostle was wrecked on the present island of Malta, and 
no where else in the Mediterranean. Having decided this 
point in theology, we entered again our coach and drove home- 
ward, by the way of Xasciaro. 

XXVIII, 

Our drive, thence, was by no means so varied as that out 
from town. We caught a far-off glimpse of the mammoth 
Church of Musta, which is to replace that of Birchiccaio — 
it having been found inadequate to the size of the village 
of that name. In this instance, the inhabitants deviated 
from their usual custom of church-making, and, instead of 
patching up their old churches, or adding wings or chapels to 
accommodate the increase of the parishioners, they have in this 
case outstripped their present wants ; and in anticipation of 
the necessities of a numerous posterity, and an extraordinary 
development of outward Christianity, they have commenced 
to surround the walls of their ancient chapel by the founda- 
tions of an edifice, which is not only cathedral in its plan, but 
zealously designed, in their ambition, to eclipse even the 
vast proportions of the huge St. Peter's at Rome. We hope 
that these religious aspirants for bulls may not meet with the 
fate of the frog in the fable. 

XXIX. 

Having passed through many thriving villages by the way 
side, we reached the suburbs of the Quarantine Harbor, 
where a fine promenade and drive afforded us an excellent 
opportunity to see somewhat of the gay life of the citizens ; 
and, turning thence, by the way round the Harbor, we entered 
Yaletta by the Gardens of the Florianna. 



ARCH^OLOGICAL REMAINS. 45 



On the next morning, as we returned from tlie Church of 
St. John — an Episcopal Chapel, which was presented to the 
English residents, through the liberaUty of the late Queen 
Dowager Adelaide — our meditations were suddenly startled 
by a terrible fracas in the street. A Maltese sailor had been 
run through the body by the bayonet of a British soldier, and 
great excitement ensued in consequence, which caused much 
animosity on both sides, and tended to revive the natural 
jealousy of the people against the soldiers of the occupation. 
The possession of the island by the English troops has ma- 
terially affected the character of the inhabitants, and gives to 
the Maltese the disposition, vices and servile condition of a 
conquered nation. While this condition exists, the task of 
government becomes an extremely delicate one, on the part of 
the mother country ; and it requires much tact to assuage 
the rebellious humors which are so easily disturbed among 
such peculiar elements ; and especially so, when the people are 
almost entirely Romanists, and so sensitive of their servitude 
under a foreign and Protestant yoke. So sensible was the 
Home Department of the necessity of quelling every outbreak, 
and of the need of conciliating these turbid feelings, that 
every possible concession was made to the innate prejudices 
of the inhabitants, not contrary to the requirements of a sound 
government ; and that same year, the foreign office at home 
had yielded so far to their religious preferences, as to ap- 
point a Koman Catholic Governor. 

xxxi. 

Independent of the observation, that every person whom 
we met in the street was either a priest or attached to a 



46 THE LAND OF THE CJESAR AND THE DOGE. 

religious house or office, the sudden arrival of a large number 
of Jesuits, who took refuge in the island after their expulsion 
by the people from ISTaples, led one to think that the town 
would suffer from their inroads, or that the inhabitants 
might deem them troublesome from their increased wants 
and necessities. In fact, the Captain of the Order was then 
in town, and the city was full of these and other refugees 
from the, then, outpoured vial of popular wrath. 

XXXII. 

He who shall leave Malta without first having visited 
some of the remarkable natural curiosities of the island, will 
find himself deficient in certain points of archaeological loie or 
antiquarian research, which could alone complete his claims to 
a virtuoso or a savan. The Devil's Punch Bowl, or Makluba, 
no less than the Grotto of Calypso, or the G-arden of Bos- 
chetto, would contribute much to freight his mind with rich 
old memories of mythological and classic lore. But the fa- 
mous ruins of Casal CreUdi far surpass the others in magnitude 
and age ; and no one should say that he had seen anything 
truly venerable, ancient, or honorable, who had not gazed on 
and wondered over the monstrous upright stones at Hagar 
Keem. 



THE KINGDOM 



THE T¥0 SICILIES 



BY SEA. 



Early on Monday morning, having learned at tlie Post-office, 
that the government steamer had been placed under sailing 
orders, by instructions from Naples, we seized this opportunity, 
to hasten our departure ; and while my friend was engaged in 
the necessary duty of having our passports properly regulated, 
I took occasion to hold a parley, with the Secretary of the 
Consulate, who was acting in the absence of the learned and 
gentlemanly Mr. Winslow, then our Consul at Malta ; and 
thereupon expostulated upon the felonious practice, indulged 
in by many of our American Consuls abroad, of demanding 
two dollars for every vise of their fellow-countrymen. In the 
name of the nation, we protested against paying this tax, for 
an official identification of our nationality : we thought that it 
was sufficient compensation, for them to have obtained a sight 
of a stray American. We felt doubly sore, when he insisted 
upon his fees, in spite of our remonstrances, and our suggestions 
as to Mr. Forsyth's, the former Secretary of State, orders to 
the contrary, for it seemed that he never minded ex-officio's 
instructions, being confident, that a live ounce was much bet- 
ter than a dead lion. 

Nevertheless, we must still protest against such habits in 
our Consuls, and trust that the Government will remedy this 
inconvenience by attaching liberal salaries to these appoint- 
ments. 



60 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 



About seven o'clock in the evening, we took a boat at the 
foot of the "iS^ix Maugiare" landing, and were rowed by a 
stalwart Maltese, to the companion-way of the Neapolitan 
steamer, then lying in the middle of the stream, and about 
midway between the broadside of Her Majesty's ship of the 
line, "The Queen," and the walls of the city. This noble 
vessel of 110 guns, then commanded by Admiral Parker, was 
the chief boast of the bay and the pride of the navy ; and as 
she sat there "like a thing of life," at the close of day, a 
floating palace of, wonderful beauty, we felt a flush of vivid 
animation mount to our temples, as we thought of our own 
gallant navy, its misullied honor and matchless prowess. 

III. 

Fond music from "the Queen's" band stole over the waters, 
just as the sunset-gun boomed across the waters, and the last 
quivering touches of sunlight passed from daylight into dusk, 
at the close of that beautiful evening, when our steamer moved 
gently through the narrow channel of the harbor, beyond 
the lantern of the outer light, and having passed it safely, fled 
with swift wings upon her pathway, strewn with the bright 
golden drops from Heaven's starry dome. 



SICILY. 



The sail from Malta to Naples by the way of Sicily, af- 
forded us an excellent opportunity to visit the several ports of 
Syracuse, Catania, and Messina, and to catcli frequent views 
of the grandest of all European volcanoes. Mount ^tna. 
Sicily is by far too interesting an island to be passed without 
notice; and as it is seldom travelled over by strangers, no fur- 
ther apology is needed for an especial account of this charming 
spot. It is without doubt, the garden of the Mediterranean, 
as it produces every variety of fruit, flower, and shrub ; and, 
at the period of our transit, in the early part of April, its 
vegetation was in full bloom. Our description of each place, 
at which we stopped, although somewhat imperfect, on ac- 
count of the recently disturbed state of the kingdom, will be 
no less interesting from the high state of political excitement 
then existing among the people ; and it will be doubly valua- 
ble from the fact that, since that time, Revolutions have ceased 
for a while, in Europe, and an insidious calm has intervened 
between the two epochs of the former and the latter storms. 

HISTORICAL NOTIONS. 



Blind Homer gave to Sicily the names of the land of the 
Sun, and of the Island of the Cyclops and of Giants. The 



52 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

cruel and ferocious Listrigonians were certainly its first in- 
habitants. The Pelagians, Phoenicians, and Lotofagians — 
(all believed, by some, to be only one people, but who ac- 
quired different names from the various manners and customs, 
as well as principles of government) — from the first, led a 
savage and pastoral life. The Sicanians, of Spanish origin ; 
the Elimeans, descendants of the Trojans ; the Trojans, and 
Phoenicians, themselves, afterwards went there to sojourn. 

The imaginary fables of the ancients about the first inhabi- 
tants, are sufficiently known ; and the reader is well aware, 
that there is no truth in these mythological falsehoods, either 
as to the ferocious nature, or the athletic forms of the first 
settlers. In time, the descendants of the Cyclops were gradu- 
ally civilized, and passed from a pastoral to an agricultural 
life ; and thence arose the worship of Ceres, instituted in her 
honor, who was the first to teach them the culture of the 
grains, or, perhaps, as a mark of acknowledgment to the earth 
which produced them spontaneously. 

Thus, this half-civilized people formed the nation called 
" Sicania," from one Sicano, who is said to have gone to esta- 
blish himself, with other Iberians, on that island. Others 
pretend that the Spanish immigrants gave it this name, which 
they took from a rivulet that issued in Iberia. Whatever 
may be the origin, it is certain that Sicily was called Sicania 
from that period, and that the greater part of the inhabitants, 
being dispersed by the terrible eruptions of Vesuvius, settled 
themselves on the west coast of the island. 

The Sicilians succeeded to the Sicanians, who changed the 
name of Sicania into that of Sicilia ; and contemporaneously 
with them, the Cretes led a colony thither. 

It is the opinion of Pliny and other writers, that Sicily was 



CON\TJLSIONS ON LAND. 63 

detached from Italy by the effects of a great convulsion 
of nature. Other geologists, not less esteemed, in their turn 
consider the Straits of Messina as one of those valleys which 
form the boundary of a continuous chain of mountains. 

III. 

Spalunzani, in his voyage through the two Sicilies, goes still 
farther in saying, that the time will be when Sicily shall be 
again united to the continent at the point of Peloro, which 
is the narrowest part of the Straits. 

Without indorsing the above researches, we will now con- 
tent ourselves with -a chronological account of certain events 
of which this beautiful country was the theatre. 

We pass over the numerous conquerors into whose hands 
it fell, from the times of the Greeks and Romans ; and 
from Goth and Yandal, passing successively into Saracen 
and Norman hands, until it fell from ISTorman to Spaniard, 
and thence to the Bourbons, in It 01. We now enter into a 
more particular description of the fair Island of Sicily, as 
we saw it, and such as it has remained in the hands of the 
present king (Ferdinand of Naples), since 1830. 

SYRACUSE. 
IV. 

The picturesque array of seven steamers in a line cheered 
our arrival about half-past five o'clock in the morning, when 
we dropped anchor before the walls of Syracuse. We were 
informed by a visiting officer, that these foreign vessels were 
removing the armaments from the forts, and the Neapolitan 
soldiery were evacuating the town ; also, that there had been 



54 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

some fighting at Catania, and the patriots at Messina were 
preparing to attack the citadel, having ah'eady successfully 
resisted the royal troops at that place. 



Under the prestige of such news, the town of Syracuse 
wore a cheerful aspect ; as upon entering it, after a subse- 
quent landing, we found groups of animated citizens within the 
walls, as we passed up to breakfast at our hotel ; and, while 
discussing the animating topics of the hour over our coffee 
and steaks, we grew suddenly wise, and waxed diplomatically 
sage over the fate of empires ; and especially certain were we 
as to the success of Sicily. In our enthusiasm, we were led 
to utter, " Xoble Sicilians and brave Syracusians, Sicily must 
be free ! It will assert, and shall maintain its independence as 
a Republic ! Tyrants must fall, and the people rise ! The 
King of Xaples will be too wise to resist their noble struggle 
for freedom !" 

VI. 

Even after we had risen from the table, and were walking 
out in search of antiquities and to view the town, we remem- 
ber we cast some very patronizing looks at the troops of the 
citizen-soldiery, and felt ready even to fraternize — so sure we 
were of the justice of their cause and the certainty of vic- 
tory. Somehow or other, we did not enlist in that campaign. 

VII. 

Within the northern section of Syracuse, and shortly beyond 
the gates under which we had entered, from the wharf, having 
first crossed over the four draw-bridges that united as many 
different lines of the fortifications, and almost abutting the 



VENUS OF THE BATH. 55 



face of the inner wall, stood the majestic proportions of a 
cathedral that had been built upon the ruins of the Temple 
of Minerva, and retains some beautifully-sculptured columns 
and an architrave which once adorned the ancient shrine. 
Thence was it, according to Cicero, that the Praetor Yerres 
transported the most wonderful works of art and costly vases 
of gold and ivory, when he plundered the Sicilian province. 
The beautiful baptismal font before the altar was found in 
an old subterranean church near the catacombs. Behind the 
altars you might discover a fine Nativity, by Carravagio 

VIII. 

From the Temple we were led to inspect the contents of a 
National Museum, where, among many things worthy of at- 
tention, from having been dug up in the vicinity of the city, 
we found a well-preserved torso, of a ^^ Venus issuing from the 
Bath,^- one of the best works of the Greek school, and a Jupiter 
which had been removed from the amphitheatre. The drapery 
of one " torso" was very light and flowing. Besides several 
vases of terra-cotta, peculiar to these regions, there were some 
funereal and lachrymal urns, of rare workmanship. 

We had occasion also to admire a very perfect collection of 
coins of a Grecian age, and numerous Roman medals. 

IX. 

The celebrated Fountain of Arethusa, which had been wont 
to awake so many fine images in the fancy of the ancient 
poets, claimed our mutual admiration and disgust, as we 
turned from its poetic reveries to watch the more practical 
labors of some dozens of washerwomen, who were up to their 
knees in suds and wash-clothes. The garrulous clamor, gabble 



56 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

and chatter of these Yociferous women, afforded a marked 
contrast to the classic nymphs of mnocence who were ap- 
pointed to attend on the chaste Diana. Verily, the goddess, 
if alive, would in her wrath have changed these hoydens into 
stone, and would likely have wrung their necks off, over the 
basin, as they themselves were wringing their clothes after 
the wash, or rubbing them to thread-bare against the sides of 
her ancient marbles. 

Fair " Diana^s BatK^ had lost much of the purity of its 
waters, for the ebb of the sea impregnated its body with a 
taste of its briny salt. Just beyond this pond we were shown 
down an immense flight of subterranean steps cut out of the 
solid rock, and, doubtless, the fact of the perverse undertaking, 
or the continual droppings from the springs above, led the 
town's-people to call it the Bath of the Queen. 



Upon returning again on the route to our hotel, we crossed 
the path of the Equinoctial Line which was drawn by Archi- 
medes, in front of the Temple of Diana ; and, having found 
our carriage waiting for us, at the beck of the landlord, we 
mounted, and were driven off through the narrow and dirty 
streets of Syracuse, in the direction of the country. As we 
passed out of the quarter of the ancient Ortigia, the streets 
still appeared to be animated by fresh gatherings of the ^N'a- 
tional Guards, who watched, with eagerness and wistful looks 
of triumph, the retreating steps of the Army of the Evacuation. 
Under such circumstances the people seemed unusually gay, 
and walked briskly and jauntily along, as if they were animated 
by a new impulse, from the prospects of their speedy liberation 
from then- hated, and domestic tyrants. 



THE EAR OF DIONYSIUS. 5*1 

XI. 

Shortly after we had passed beyond the gates, we obtained 
a favorable point whence to survey the fortifications of the 
new city, now standing so conspicuously out on a long promon- 
tory that projected from the main-land, as to present a full front 
within the encircling arms of its fine harbor. By means of 
ditches and moats, the city can be entirely separated and in- 
sulated from the country, so that all access to it would be 
impossible, save by the letting down of the draw-bridges and 
portcullises. 

XII. 

Not far from the fort we turned off by a cross-road, just 
where the solitary column of the ancient Temple of Ceres 
marked the way, and from the quarter of Keopoli, or the 
new city, where scarcely a trace remains of Proserpine's 
temple, our ride soon brought us to the remains of the Roman 
Amphitheatre ; though covering a vast extent of ground, we 
found it in excellent preservation, and visited every part. 
Our view of the adjacent country and the distant city was 
peculiarly striking, from the height of these interesting ruins. 
Not far off were the still visible traces of the Theatre Max- 
imus, so called by Cicero, and somewhat further to the north of 
both these arenas, and at about equal distances from either, lies 
that celebrated quarry and prison, known in his reign of terror 
as the Ear of Dionysius — '' That Famous Tyrant of Syracuse !" 

XIII. 

We rode down to it, through the arches of the modern 
Aqueduct, and suddenly halted at the base of a naturally- 
formed amphitheatre, that had been somewhat widened by 
excavations from the limestone cliffs. 



58 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

This cavity, appearing somewhat like an artificial enlarge- 
ment of the original fissures in the rock, bore some huge re- 
semblance to the opening of the human ear ; but it has been 
more appropriately entitled to the name from the fullness of its 
acoustic properties. It appeared to have been hollowed out 
from a single mass of rock. At first the cavity opens so wide 
on a horizontal space, as to admit the passage of a carriage. 
The entrance in front, from being very wide, soon narrows its 
wadth, and then so extends its side-walls with many sinuosi- 
ties and tortuous windings, as, with the roof over head, to 
assume the shape of a horse's ear, rather than that of a man. 
There is no doubt but that this cavern was originally used as 
a quarry for building-stones. Its extreme dimensions are 190 
feet in length, by 108 feet in height. 

XIV. 

The lowest articulation of sound was distinctly reported 
along its v.^alls ; the discharge of our pocket-pistols resounded 
with reverberations like a cannon ; and the mere rumpling or 
tearing of a piece of paper was so accurately repeated, as to be 
heard easily at the height of the roof, !Near the top of this 
cave, was the chamber wherein the eaves-dropping tyrant 
hung in miserable suspense over the cries and agonies of his 
victims who were within. Thence was it, that he listened to 
the mourning and plaints of the prisoners below, and turned 
the natural complaints of his Athenian slaves into accusa- 
tions of treason, and hurried these objects of his vengeance 
or suspicions away, and without trial, to the tortures of im- 
prisonment, or to be butchered, to make a Roman's holiday, 
in the arena of the Amphitheatre near at hand. Modern 
history, whilst furnishing the parallel portraits of kings, 



ROMANTIC ROPE-WALKS. 69 

shows, in Scott's "Fortunes of Nigel," "that such mon- 
strosity lacked not an imitator in the first of the House of 
the Stuarts." 

XV. 

It is surmised by some historians, although contradicted 
by others, that Diouysius himself listened from a concealed 
chamber, to hear the cries of his numerous victims. There 
are some who date this grotto at a period subsequent to 
the reign of this tyrant. The parabolic construction of the 
cavity is sufficient to establish its remarkable acoustic capaci- 
ties, and to place this phenomenon among the most celebrated 
of the echoes of the world. 

XVI. 

When we visited it, this fearful storehouse of barbarian 
despotism had been changed by Nature's magic into a grotto, 
with a blooming valley before it ; rich clustering vines spread 
their mantles over the portals of this ancient charnel-house, 
and sweet wild flowers smiled by the side of gentle rills, gush- 
ing from the melting tears of its moist rocks. They might 
have borne analogy to some of the weeping slaves of that 
ancient despot. But we sought rather to think of their like- 
ness to the braver spirit of liberty which has risen from the 
ashes of martyrs, or of those tears which have been the 
"dew of the womb of our morning," of civil and rehgious 
regeneration. 

XVII. 

Near by, there were other of these latomise, or prisons, as 
they are now called, where humble peasants were spinning out 
threads of twine, in these natural rope-walks, and workers in 
saltpetre were digging this substance from the earth. 



60 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

What has changed the condition of the poor serf since 
Sicily's Dionysius ? Why are serfdom and slavery ever the 
same ? Answer, thou, heart ! For tyrant's alter not, though 
the world grows old I 

XVIII. 

From the Ear of Dionysius to the Fountain of the Nymph, 
*' which still supplies the sources of the waters for the modern 
Aqueduct, was no ordinary change in travel ; and our next 
variety was no less an evidence of this fact, than it was strik- 
ing in the interest, which caused us to turn from the stone 
seats of the old Greek Theatre, into the ancient paths of the 
Via Sepulchra, formerly appendant to the ancient City, and 
whereon we could still trace out the deep ruts of the ancient 
chariot-wheels, on the road-side over which we rode. 

From the summit of this Cemetery, you catch one of the 
finest panoramic views on the island, for it embraces in its 
extent, the landscapes, city, distant inland, and sea. From 
this spot, the vegetation of the island appeared luxuriantly 
rich, and the fine groups of every variety of shade-trees, 
growing among the scattered rocks, deep dells, and fertile 
vales, rendered this prospect one of the most agreeable and 
picturesque in Sicily. 

XIX. 

Passing by the Tombs of Archimedes and Timolus, without 
stopping, further, than to gather a few wild flowers from their 
tombs, we hurried beyond to the Garden of Casula, which pre- 
sented a peculiar manner, in the cultivation of this island of 
verdure, truly, worthy of remark. The principal feature of these 
horticultural curiosities, was presented in those strikingly sin- 
gular contrasts, where the wildest, and most grotesquely 



TROPICAL FRUITS. 61 



shaped rocks and grottoes, assuming the forms of bastions, 
escarpments and towers, coped with the most beautiful varie- 
ties of luxuriant gardens, bedecked with rich display of flowers, 
hanging in rich clusters, and vines climbing to the crevices of 
their natural supporter ; and thus offered soft gushes of relief, 
in shade and color, as they burst suddenly upon the sight. 
Tropical plants were growing in close affinity with the indige- 
nous fruits. Exotics found sympathy with naturals ; and even 
here, no less than in Egypt, the papyrus and lotus were culti- 
vated. These fair and beautiful flowers seemed to have soft- 
ened down the harsh conditions of these rocky prisons, wherein 
nobles had been confined for foul treason to the Imperial 
State. 

XX. 

The grandest, and most beautiful, of these latomiae or im- 
prisoned bowers, is to be found in the ancient quarter of the 
Acradina, and is attached to the Convent of the Capuchins, 
whose monks have delighted to amuse their leisure by the 
cultivation of these delicious gardens, and by such industry 
have lent to them a most enchanting and romantic aspect. 

XXI, 

In one of our turns of moods and humors in travel ; or, 
" From grave to gay, and from lively to severe," 

we were induced to terminate our saunterings by a look into 
the great catacombs extending under the modern chapel of St. 
John ! These immense regions of emburial, caused a sense of 
stupor and wonderment in viewing merely their entrances ; 
and so vast were they, that they seemed like large subter- 
ranean cities, which had been excravated out of the livins; 



62 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

rock ; and althougli it would liave required two days at least, 
to have explored such parts as have already been discovered, 
it would have been more exhausting at the end, on learning 
that they have only been half-disclosed. With the exception 
of a few paintings and Greek inscriptions, there is nothing to 
be seen on their walls, but a darkness far more dreadful than 
the Egyptian. 

XXII. 

We were very glad to have finished our sight-seeing and ex- 
cursions, when we had escaped from the tombs to daylight. 

It was pleasant to admire the richness of the outspread 
landscape of Sicily, and the exceeding loveliness of the scene 
which was then spread before our eyes. This beautiful 
island was then decked out in the first blushing honors of 
Spring. Afar off was the distant city of Syracuse, lying in 
sweet repose on the bosom of the blue Mediterranean. A 
glorious sky, checkered by floating fleecy clouds, on the azure 
field of heaven, was above. Every variety of herb, foliage 
and flowers, on tree, shrub, or plant, was decking the inter- 
stices of romantic and scattered rocks ; and the air around was 
redolent with song of birds, and breathed of the perfumes of 
rich flowers. Warm draughts of the coursing breezes fanned 
our cheeks with gentle and healthful kisses, and all nature 
wore an aspect of gentleness and love, reflecting of goodness, 
and buoyant with young hopes, while everything conspired to 
make that day — such as the gentle Herbert sung — 

" Sweet day, : 

Bridal of the earth and sky." 



PERPETUAL SNOWS. 63 



CATANIA. 
XXIII. 

Shortly after noonday we left Syracuse and run out to sea, 
after having rounded the picturesque Citadel standing at the 
extremity of the promontory of the ancient Ortigia. The 
weather that afternoon was extremely beautiful ; the wind, 
rather fresh to the windward ; the sea, not over rough, and 
under a full head of steam, we very soon caught a jBrst view 
of Mount .Etna's perpetual snow, as its peak of dazzling 
whiteness loomed far aloft above the summits of the Catanian 
mountains, and appeared sublimer still from the enchanting 
distance at which it was beheld. We sailed always in sight of 
the coast, and caught frequent glimpses of the approaching 
town of Catania. The majestic JEtna lifted its glorious out- 
line ever before our vision, and lent a strong interest to our 
journey thitherward, for its brilliant crown of snow rose high 
above the rich verdure of its base ; and as it poured out 
volumes of scoria and vapor, they seemed like the full puffs from 
an eternal altar. Heavy masses of smoke curled slowly and 
gracefully out of its imperial crater, and as they were fitfully 
thrown out by its hidden fires within, they floated away on 
the coursing breeze, like plumes of rich ermine, or, as when 
fleecy clouds roll from off the face of the silver moon at night ; 
or, again, as when for awhile the storm-wind's coursers 
darkens her sheen, and whenever fierce flashes of vivid light- 
ning burst through the sullen drapery of the midnight tempest. 
Thus iEtna lured at night. Thus wrapped in the contemplation 
of its beauty, and so entranced, we scarcely observed our en- 
trance into the port of Catania at about four o'clock, that 
same afternoon. 



64 THE LAND OF THE C^3AR AND THE DOGE. 

XXIY. 

Xo one entering this town from sea, could doubt the vol- 
canic origin of its formation. The abnormal appearance of 
numerous huge and mis-shapen rocks, lying scattered and 
strewn broadcast about the entrance of the port, and appear- 
ing like vast masses of slack from a giant's iron foundery, or 
small mountains washed from the inundation into the dJuge, 
and eaten out, by the action of volcanic fires, to their very 
cores, clearly indicated the igneous agency of many severe 
and terrible eruptions. Although there has been none more 
recent than that of 1693, the aspect of the harbor, as we 
entered it, in order to cast anchor, was much like that 
which would be presented in this country, if all the pudding- 
stones of Xew England could be spasmodically scattered, in 
grand confusion, over and about the waters of Jamaica Pond, 
in Roxbury. 

The port of Catania was by no means so capacious as that 
of Syracuse, and appeared to us rather as a rough indentation 
of the shore, whereon enormous lumps of blackened lava had 
rushed headlong from the volcano to line the coast. "Whilst 
thus geologically occupied, our attention became suddenly di- 
verted by a deputation of the National Guards, and a horde 
of the lazaroni from the town. 

XXV. 

We landed — for I recollect that we were rowed ashore by 
a boatman — ^not far from the usual quay, and soon walked 
away, to see the town and its people. We were surprised to 
find such elegant specimens of architectural taste as were dis- 
played in the forms of their houses, which were far superior in 
point of beauty, but not so high in their elevation ns those 



STREET BRIDGES. 65 



of the Syracusians. The streets were large and straight, with 
ample and convenient parks, adorned with fountains, and 
paved mtli large square flag-stones. 

XXVI. 

As we passed along through the streets, (for one usually 
walks in the middle of the street, abroad,) we were somewhat 
at a loss to account for the presence of bridges in the middle 
of the highway, and apparently there, (in our ignorance,) with- 
out any cause ; but, when we looked up to the tops of the 
hills, which almost ran into the back of the town, we became 
suddenly aware that the necessity existed in those sudden 
deluges which occur usually in these regions, from the rapid 
overflow of the mountain-torrents, and which, without such 
reliefs in the middle, would render the streets impassable for 
the inhabitants, without the help of boats. 

We also found the people aroused to a fanatical sense of 
liberty. Every corner was crowded with gatherings of ex- 
cited citizens and enraged patriots, who seemed ready to shed 
their last drop of blood, in a war against tyranny. 

XXVII, 

Again, as we were walking along the wharves, we met with 
a very civil old gentleman, who, in the course of our conversa- 
tion with him, proffered his services, in his desire to show us 
the town. We thanked him for his civility ; but, not wish- 
ing to insult so respectable and venerable a citizen, and a 
patriot too, by using him as a guide, we availed ourselves of 
his continued politeness, in order to discover our way to an 
hotel. With his aid, we soon found the Albergo ddla Coruna 
di Ferro — the " House of the Iron Crown" ; and, having pro- 



66 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

cured the services of a valet, we started out, (the old man still 
accompanying us ;) and all together, improved our time by 
looking at some of the most interesting monuments and anti- 
quities of the place. 

XXVIII. 

In the cathedral, we saw some fine columns that had been 
taken from an ancient theatre, as well as its porch in front. 
Not far off, we descended into the subterranean remains of 
the theatre itself, where we spent some time in examining the 
stairway of the amphitheatre and its three successive ranks of 
corridors and galleries, bearing the evidences of a construction 
of vast extension and strength. ISTear by, we observed the 
relics of a small drome. Toward dusk, we hastened to a more 
distant part of the city, and almost to the outskirts, to visit 
the celebrated Monastery of San Nicholas of the Benedictines. 
This, the most spacious and elegant of the convents that 
I saw in Europe, was built by Cottini, and with its three 
plans of a Composite Order, is more worthy to be called a 
palace than an asylum for penitents, as it combines within 
its walls every object of nature and art — stairways, corri- 
dors, gardens, groves, precious marbles, paintings, sculptures, 
bas-reliefs, mscriptions, vases of elegant workmanship and of 
Grecian form — and where all objects of variety, of virtu and an- 
tiquity, ara brought together in its museum, where are united 
the choicest and most wonderful productions of the three 
kingdoms of Nature. We were mostly pleased with the views 
from the beautifully-planned terraced gardens, which over- 
looked the city and the bay. And grander yet, and more 
affecting, was a magnificent view of the distant snows of the 
volcano, which now towered fearfully above the city and 



BATHS OF HERCULES. 6t 

the sea, and loomed up like a mighty spirit through the, now, 
dusky light of the enchanting evening. There was always a 
fascination in that scene to me. Yolcanoes are sights of 
epic grandeur ; and their belching fires, immense height, and 
perpetual snows, always imaged to my mind types of gran- 
deur, power, sublimity, and love, restraining wrath. 

XXIX. 

The attractive novelty of a torchlight visit, induced us to 
follow our guide into the Baths of Hercules, over whose 
ancient foundations, the Church of St. Maria del Rotundo 
had arisen. On the walls of its ruins the traces of some 
bas-reliefs were still visible. The same waters which were 
used in these ancient baths still flow through the chambers of 
the ancient aqueduct, and are still supported by some vene- 
rable and graceful arches. The side-walls were formed of 
large blocks of lava, neatly and compactly fitted, without 
a particle of cement. Having now bathed, in fancy, we 
concluded to return to our dinner at the hotel ; and, 
whilst discussing our soup and viands, we regretted to learn 
that our host's family had met with a recent affliction, in the 
the loss of the proprietor, Signor Abate, who had fallen a 
victim to the late Revolution of January. On leaving the 
house for the boat, we were surprised to find that our re- 
spectable old gentleman was still waiting for us at the porch ; 
but at the suggestion of the boy who served us, we were led 
to discover that all his former courtesies had not been en- 
tirely disinterested, although self-proffered, for he accepted 
our gratuity with a ^^ grazicuP and bade us ^^ Buena notte, 
buon viaggio, Signore" as he pocketed our francs, and 
departed. 



68 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



MESSINA. 
XXX. 

It was quite early on the following morning after we had 
sailed away from Catania, that we arrived off the port of 
Messina. Owing to the recent outbreaks of the populace, we 
were forced to cast anchor in the outer harbor. Our view 
of the city, from this roadstead, as it was situated midway 
between the shore and well-wooded mountains in the back- 
ground, overlooking the town, was sufficiently picturesque ; 
while its fine palaces on the short Marina, or quay, with 
its inner fortress and citadel at the outer bay, united to 
form a very agreeable prospect. Not wishing to tarry for 
the usual delays at the custom-house, I obtained permission to 
disembark at once ; and, having reached the shore, walked a 
long distance by the sea-side, until I finally arrived at the 
main city and an hotel. The entire place and populace wore 
an aspect of excitement and revolt. Cannons were still stand- 
ing in the middle of the streets ; bands of soldiers were on 
foot, and barricades of barrels and boxes closed up some of 
the cross-ways and side-paths. 

XXXI. 

Our first visit, after our friends had joined me, was to the 
Cathedral — a fine building of the Florentine style — contain- 
ing some fine antique columns in the interior, with a richly- 
sculptured doorway, in white marble, in front, and a tall 
campanula, some little way detached from the church itself. 

During the late bombardment by the Neapolitan garrison 
in the citadel, its roof had suffered greatly from the balls and 



RANDOM SHOTS. 69 



bombshells that had fallen through it ; and a pyramid of can- 
non balls and. bombs rested on one of the altars, as a proof of 
the bad gunnery and sacrilegious aims of the royal archers. 

XXXII. 

The principal square of the city— that immediately in front 
of the Cathedral — presented an array of elegant and costly 
edifices ; while the overthrown and mutilated statue of their 
hated king, Ferdinand, of Xaples, evidenced the violence of 
the mob, by the fragments which were strewn about the 
piazza. Having ascended by a very lengthy flight of stone 
steps, we arrived at a broad terrace, extendmg in front of 
the Chapel of St. Gregory ; from thence we obtained a mag- 
nificent prospect, commanding not only a view over the town 
at our feet, but of the harbor, the bay, a wide expanse of sea, 
and the distant Straits intervening between this coast and that 
of Italy. The little church, from which we surveyed the scene, 
was remarkable for the richness of its mosaic ornaments in the 
interior, and for the beautiful frescoes of its ceiling, by Filo- 
camo. 

XXXIII. 

Having discovered, to our regret, upon our descending 
thence to the city, that the justly-celebrated Museum of the 
University was closed, we turned our feet in another direction, 
with a determination to reach the very summit of the hills 
dominatmg the town, and especially to visit that particu- 
lar height upon which the patriots had erected that which 
was called "The Citizen's Fort;" it having been thrown up 
during the late troubles. Its site was that of an old for- 
tress, and well chosen ; for it was so far above the position of 
the citadel on the bay, that every ball shot from their cannons 



TO THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

fell plumply within the centre of the enemy's camp. Their 
artillery was managed by a daring ^^NTeapolitan — a youth of 
about twenty, whom we afterwards met. The view from that 
point overlooked not only the town and harbor, with its ship- 
ping, but extended far back into the country of the interior, 
and embraced the full stretch of the narrow neck of land 
upon which the Parol light-tower stood out into the sea, and to 
where the coast of Italy was faintly outlined, at the narrowest 
point of the Straits of Messina, and around which the rushing 
tides of Scylla hurled their swift whirlpools around the more 
formidable rocks of Charybdis ; and about which the fretted 
sea, broken into eddies and fearful rapids, wreaked out its 
madness in a rage of foam, with curls of scorn on its whit- 
ened crest. 

XXXIV. 

Afterward, during the day, there was a review of the 
citizen soldiers ; they appeared to be a resolute and hardy 
set of men, full of fire, but lacking discipline alone to make 
them the trusty and staunch guardians of their liberties and 
firesides. 

XXXV. 

No one can depart from Messina without fit praise for its 
beautiful Marina, or walk, along the sea-shore. It is the 
peculiar feature of this town and Palermo, each to possess 
one of these delightful and picturesque promenades by the 
very margin of their bays, and within full view of the ocean, 
and of the shipping — with mountains on one side, and vistas of 
distant islands and coasts on the other, united with the per- 
fect enjoyment of healthful breezes from the sea, the society 
of fair maidens, city life, and roll of carriages, and of pedes- 
trians, in the very neighborhood of the most busy portion of 



JOACHIM MURAT SHOT. Tl 

the city ; and yet all this without the annoyance, dust, bustle 
or rattle of the busy mart, or the din of trade, to break its 
repose or disturb its happy leisure. The views of, and from 
that Marina, are superb. Its very gravel and the pebbled 
walk touch the waters of their native homes, in these seas. 
The sunset's beauty gilds the opposite hills of Italy, to give 
back to Sicily its beautiful reflective joys. It was by the 
Marina that we left this city ; and, as our boat crossed over 
its waters toward the shores of Italy, schools of dolphins 
leaped in their playful gambols, with kaleidoscopic colors in 
our vessel's wake, and these colors more variable even than 
beauty, radiated through the waves, even as the brilliant tints 
of sunset were then changeably penciling the western horizon. 
The sky itself was lovely — purely, wholely, Italian ; while the 
sunset's last quivering touches softened into the blush of 
dewy twilight, and gradually losing its charms, with suffusing 
tinges, fled gently over our last landscape, in beautiful Sicily, 
and sunk into rest behind the deep outlines of the Messinian 
hills. 

MESSINA TO NAPLES. 
XXXVI. 

We remained all night at San Griovanni, a town on the 
Italian side of the Straits, nearly opposite Messina, and in 
the morning heard a report by telegraph, of another Revolu- 
tion in K'aples. 

Quite early after we had started again, we passed in sight 
of Pizzi, where Joachim Murat was arrested and shot. The 
sail during the whole day was along the coast of Calabria, 
and perfectly delightful — the shore being close to our board, 
and boldly displayed the forms of the rocks and forests, dales 



72 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

and valleys, towns and yillas, as we were propelled onward by 
our steam. Pizzo lies snugly nestled under a high cliif, and 
occasionally the snowy caps of distant mountains showed 
themselves glimmering with alternate sunshine and shadow, 
whilst cooling breezes fanning our cheeks, warned us of the 
neighborhood of their icy glaciers. 

About noon we reached Paolo ; and whilst remaining here, 
we had an opportunity of seeing a few sans culottes boatmen. 
The absence of breeches was rendered necessary by their 
occupation by the sea-side, for, as they were constantly 
engaged in carrying their boats and passengers through the 
surf in order to land them, they preferred to be disengaged 
from the bother of pantaloons, of which habit many well 
dressed and more civilized, persons have already had a surfeit. 
At this port we took on board several passengers and one 
carriage, a nobleman's, of course. Here, also, the Italian 
sugar-loaf hat first claimed our attention, and we observed 
the swathed legs, or bandaged leggins of the peasants who 
came on board, from which we inferred, that the term 
" bandy-legged" w^as first derived, for, in those countries where 
this habit of binding had not been introduced, legs are not so 
straight as their eyes. 

The remainder of our sail along shore developed somewhat 
of the characteristics and talents of our fellow-passengers : we 
enjoyed the buffo-songs of one man very much indeed ; the 
music of some Germans on board contrasted markedly with 
that of the Italians, so as to present a very striking comparison 
in our mind ; nor did we cease to be entertained by the various 
incidents of life, characters, drollery and fun, which occurred 
on board the steamer, which was never out of sight of land, 
until w^e landed on the next day at our destined port. 



THE KII&DOM OP lAPLES 



E. a Napoli scopria I'alta beltade : 
La regina del mar, la Dea del mare. 



NAPLES. 



" Thus Naples discovered its beauties to me, 
Like Goddess mid ocean, the Queen of the Sea." 

Thus sang Tassoni of the approach to this beautiful city, 
whose bay and environs of charming spots and picturesque 
islands were not unfit emblems of the myrmidons of that Yenus 
whose progress he celebrated in these lines, as she passed, in 
her bark Cognetto, from Leghorn to Xaples. Before his 
time, the brilliancy of its beautiful w^aters had been sung by 
Lucretius ; and its sunny smiles still remain, and the gentle 
pulses of its waves beat on with the same laughter, resounding 
in its splash as when Catullus sung. 

It has suffered nothing since the flight of ages, and, with 
Yalery, we can still rejoice " that it is for poets and painters 
alone to describe the enchantments of the Gulf of Naples, 
with the graceful and imposing mixture of woods, mountains, 
houses, forts, churches, chapels, ruins, and, we may add, vol- 
cano and skies, which decorate this magnificent amphitheatre." 

No less enchanting w^as its aspect as we entered it from the 
sea, at early morning, when the brilliant fires of Mount Vesu- 
vius were casting their lurid flames over the waters, and a 
mysterious glare of crimson light, deeper in hue than the rosy- 
fiugered morn, preceded the advent of Aurora, and lent to the 
scene a coloring partaking somewhat of the beams of the 



76 THE LAND OF THE C/ESAR AND THE DOGE. 



midniglit suns at the Xorth Cape, as we slipped into port 
under the brow of Yesuvius, which was then pouring out deep 
and rich streams of molten lava at red heat. 

11. 
Upon our landing, we felt the usual oppression of the 
custom-house inspections and delays, and were equally an- 
noyed with the pryings of officials, and the eager gaze from 
the eyes of the ragged crowd, who surveyed us as we passed 
along the quay, amid the vociferous noises and gabble of the 
lazaroni, who are proverbially the noisiest people in the world. 
Our trunks were,, of course, opened by some highly and richly- 
uniformed officials, whom we should have been somewhat 
ashamed to have offended, as too well dressed to be needy, 
had they not wistfully hinted at the gratuity, which we gave 
them, for performing their natural duty with a bad grace. 

III. 

Our English friends — an old East India officer, his wife, and 
myself — sought lodgings at the " Yilla di Roma," which is 
situated on the Bay, between the arsenal and the "Castle of 
the Egg." This hotel has the best views. It is near the 
Palace, not far from the Villa Reale, or public promenade ; 
and from the upper windows you can always have Yesuvius 
in sight — that never-failing source of grand impressions and 
never-ending illumination and sublime effects — the grand theme 
of Naples, and a splendid movement in the overture of iSTaples; 
now more than ordinarily attractive, because its fires have 
been fiercer of late, and another eruption is fearfully threat- 
ened. It is a grand and powerful feeling to have the idea of 
Yesuvius ever constant liefore you — even if it is in your mind's 



CHAT ON THE BACK PIAZZA. It 

eye. It was very funny, ho\yeyer, to have recollected, after- 
wards, that we seldom saw it m the day-time ; and it was so 
very chilly in the balcony of our back piazza, we hardly ven- 
tured to look out at night. Besides, Mrs. ^N'orton did not like 
to expose herself, and her husband was somewhat of an old 
granny, or a half-pay officer on the retired list. 

IV. 

As we had taken apartments for a family — for I afterwards 
persuaded my American friend Clarence to quit his solitude in 
the Chiaja — we soon settled down, in a domestic way, to enjoy 
a delightful sojourn of a fortnight in a round of perpetual 
sight-seeing, pleasant conversation, and cozy, familiar fireside 
chat. 

I was saying that we were near the Castle, with Vesuvius 
in fall sight — but nearer the Palace, which we passed several 
times a day, in our walks to the Strada Toledo. But we did 
not enjoy much of these subjects of interest, for our first day 
was spent in the house, and a miserable northern storm was 
brewing outside, so that we could only amuse ourselves that 
day by watching the white-caps which dashed furiously 
against the walls of the neighboring mole, and settled down 
in foam around the rocks in the bay. 



When we did go out, we were English enough to call a 
cab ; and that, in Naples, in spite of the French and Austrian 
domination, carried us up to the Capo di Monte — the very top 
of the hill, which was joined to the principal mountain, on 
which the city is built, by a bridge that had been constructed 
by the French. Capo di Monte offered us nothing for our 



*r8 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE, 

labor, but an attack from every species of beggar and of 
cripple ;. and we had little for our pains, until we dismounted 
upon the noble terrace of this property, whence we enjoyed an 
extensive view of the bay, and a grand panorama of the city, 
as it then lay sloping beneath our gaze, and stretching itself 
along the declivity of the hills, to the margin of the sea. 

VI. 

The Bourbon Museum delighted us chiefly from the interest 
with which we regarded the Egyptian collection, as two of us 
were freshly from the laud of mummies and of bondage. An 
Osiris, the gem of this department, appeared grand and su- 
perb to us. The nine statues of the Balbus family, found at 
Herculaneum, are nobly simple ; besides, a dying Gladiator, 
a Bacchus, and a fine statue of the Just Aristides, which was 
always admired by Canova, and the first visited by him when 
he went there — again, the Faraese Bull, a Hercules of majes- 
tic repose and strength, as if conscious of his powers, and an 
Atlas, of magnificent effect, claimed our regard ; and, apart 
from all these, the graceful statue of the Yenus Callipyge 
struck us as superior to all the Yenuses around, but not to 
Love, or a sioeet little winged Cupid, seated on a dolphin, of 
excellent workmanship. 

As we were not enabled to see the gallery of paintings 
during this visit, we rode through some very narrow and dirty 
streets of the city, in order to attend the Cathedral. We 
reached this edifice, at length, after hanng passed some fine 
fountains and monumental ornaments. This church has been 
so modernized as to have scarcely retained a trace of its 
original Gothic characteristics. The ceiling was a flat and 
richly-ornamented entablature, and the walls were huno- with 



BLOOD — SMELLING-BOTTLE, 19 

several good paintings. Here, also, and within the chapels 
of St. Januarius, the sacred vial of his miraculous blood is 
kept, which is only exhibited in its liquified state at three 
different periods during the year. Some of the columns were 
taken from the ruins of the two ancient temples of Xeptune 
and Apollo. An antique vase of Egyptian basalt serves for a 
baptistery, whereon the sculptured attributes of Bacchus — the 
vine and grape — become also emblematic of the elements of 
the Christian sacrifice. 

VII. 

" I witnessed," says Yalery, " the miracle of the blood in the 
chapel of the Treasury. The vials containing the blood of 
St. Januarius are kept in a tabernacle behind the altar, which 
has two keys, one held by the city deputies, the other by the 
archbishop. Some time before the ceremony, a number of 
women of the lower orders place themselves near the balus- 
trade, as a place of honor ; some old faces among them were 
singularly characteristic. These women are called the Rela- 
tions of St. Januarius ; they pretend to be of his family, and 
when the saint delays the liquifaction too long, they even 
think themselves privileged to waive all show of respect, and 
to abuse him. They repeat in a hoarse voice Paternosters, 
Aves, Credos; were it not in a chapel, no one would have 
imagined their horrid clamor to be prayers, and for a moment 
I thought the scolding had begun — it was another femineo 
ululatu, far less pathetic than YirgiPs. About ten o'clock, 
the vials were taken out of the tabernacle ; one was like a 
smelling-bottle, but contained only a mere stain of blood — the 
other is rather larger ; both of them are under glass, in a 
case resembling a carriage-lamp. They were shown to the 



80 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

persons admitted within the balustrade, and some tall English 
ladies advanced to the altar, and leaned forward, curiously 
examining them with their eye-glasses. It has happened, 
when the miracle did not take place in due time, that the 
people have attacked foreigners, whom they supposed English 
and heretics, and regarded as an obstacle to the miracle. I 
was told, that about the end of the last century, the Prince of 
S. and the Count of C. were turned out of the church and 
pelted with stones. Such a situation must be cruel : it is 
a sad thing to be a martyr without faith, which, in our days, 
in certain political circumstances, has not been impossible. 
The miracle was complete at noon, as it had been foretold 
me when I was invited to return, and the roar of cannon 
announced the happy news. If the life of St. Januarius be 
almost unknown, there is no saint more popular. Yoltaire 
speaks considerately of St. Januarius, and wisely defends him 
against Addison and the Protestant writers. ' All these 
authors,' says he, 'might have seen, that those institutions 
are not injurious to morals, which should be the chief care of 
civil and ecclesiastical government ; that, probably, the ardent 
imaginations of hot climates require visible signs, to place 
them continually under the divine protection ; and, in short, 
that these signs cannot be abolished, until they are despised 
by the very people that revere them.' Another genius, as 
far removed from credulity and fear, Machiavel, treats those 
persons as fools who would forbid the people such devotions. 
The worship of St. Januarius has not produced any of the 
excesses of fanaticism ; it has often prevented great mis- 
fortunes, and has been constantly respected by the different 
masters of Naples." 



LAPIS LAZULI. 81 



VIII. 

Xo less different in style, than remote in their distances 
from each other, were the proportions of the vast temple of 
San Francesco di Paolo, which stands opposite the Palace. 
Its architecture is of a very bad taste, and but a poor imi- 
tation of the Parthenon. One is rather struck with its pre- 
tensions for colonnades and pilasters, which excel in numbers 
rather than in the grace or harmony of their distribution. 
There are some fine columns in the interior, and the outer 
panelin^s of the sacristy are beautifully inlaid with a mosaic 
of lafis lazuli, agates and other precious and rare stones. 
The whole building has rather the air of a temple than that 
of a church. Your notice would be sooner attracted to those 
two huge equestrian statues of Charles III. and Ferdinand 
the King, which stand in the square before the Palace — the 
first of which has alternately served for Bonaparte and Joa- 
chim, and the colossal steed has also been forced to change 
its position, in order to suit the character of its different 
riders. 

IX. 

Kings pleased us not, nor colossal bronzes of such monarchs, 
who ruled their subjects with an iron rod. We were glad to 
turn from these sights for awhile, and drive among the beau- 
tiful palaces of the Chiaja, and so on to the refreshing gardens 
of the Yilla Reale — that sweet spot of verdure on the shore, 
which is washed by the waves of the sea — with its parterres 
and squares filled with statues, flowers, vases, and groves of 
acacia and myrtle. We recollect, even now, its pretty white 
temple, of circular form, in the middle, and the admirable 
views from this, one of the finest and most delightful of public 
promenades ; nor shall we ever forget the Neapolitan flower- 



82 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AXD THE DOGE. 

girls, who used to pelt us with bouquets of fresh flow-ers, and 
were even so confident of our honesty as to throw their fra- 
grant offerings into our carriage as we were whipped along 
in our continued drive to the suburbs beyond. There for 
awhile we would rest before the porches of the Casino, near 
the gates, and, from the hill, look back upon that glorious 
panorama of the Bay, with Yesuvius, the Castles, the Lan- 
terna, the white porcelain cubes of the houses dotting the 
shore from the Portici to the Molo, and presenting a brilliant 
phalanx of shields, of roofs, and of habitations, in ranks of 
successive beauty, from the declivity of the amphitheatre of 
its hills, to the extreme horns of its semilunar gulf. That 
scene of incomparable beauty claims for Xaples a position 
scarcely inferior to Genoa, and sustains no oival, but a paral- 
lel, in Constantinople and the Bosphorus. 

CAST ELL AM ARE. 
X. 

A railroad by the shores of the Bay of IS'aples, and in face 
of the fires and steam of Yesuvius, might shock the nerves of 
some sensitive people, and spoil their prurient notions of 
romance. But we rejoice to behold the valleys exalted and 
the mountains brought low, under Providence, who made even 
the Sabbath for the use of man, and has also suffered man, in 
His goodness, to make the very elements his servants, and by 
their agency to forward the ultimate purposes of an all-wise 
and beneficent Creator. Besides, there is true poetry in the 
steed, " whose breath kindle th coals, and out of whose mouth 
goeth a flame of fire." And as the rattling train is pulled 



IROX-HORSE. JOB. 83 



along, under the power of the iron-horse, the cars look not 
unlike the vision of Ezekiel : — " And behold, as a whirlwind 
it Cometh out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire unfolding 
itself ; and the winged creatures go every one straight for- 
ward ; as the spirit icas to go, ihej icent ; and ran, as the 
appearance of a flash of lightning." Who hath not read of 
the leviathan in Job, and not thought of that description, so 
appUcable to an ocean steamship ? And who has not won- 
dered over the first chapter of the prophet, at the similitude 
of his picture to a steam-engine and a train of cars ? He who 
hath not, let him read that he may run, and let him not 
think it strange that we claim an epic movement in a railroad, 
or something more than heroic in the birth of steam. 

XI. 

Away went we, after the locomotive, for Castellamare. 
Our road passed through the pretty villages of Portici, Torre 
del Greco, and La Xuuziata. Castellamare is a small seaport, 
with the usual activity of fishermen aud their boats, situated 
under the brow of ancient Lactarius, once so celebrated for 
the aromatic herbs growing on its surface ; and not less 
noted for a very rank fodder for the cows, which used to kill 
themselves by over-eating of such dainty pasturage. The town 
is still visited for its mineral waters, and is resorted to by the 
best of Xeapolitan society, many of whom have their country- 
seats at this place. Opposite to Castellamare, on the other 
side of the promontory, is the justly-celebrated towa of 
Amalfi, where the pandects were discovered. Both sides of 
the railroad appeared very highly cultivated, and were laid 
out in vegetable patches ; and most of the way back, extensive 
vineyards claimed our attention, from the hanging festoons of 



84 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 



the Tine running over the trellises of frame-work, near our 
pathway. We had a full view of the bay-shore as we rode 
along, and were somewhat struck at the dold farniente pos- 
tures of some dozens of lazaroni, who were sunning themselves, 
at full length, on the warm scoria sands of the sea-side. We 
never saw such perfect listlessness in pose as they exhibited. 
Well were they named " Lazaroni," from Lazarus the beggar, 
whom they resembled only in his poverty and rags, but, we 
fear, not in his hopes for a better world. Having been 
thoroughly beset by beggars, and a crowd of pestering and 
impertinent guides, who insisted on proffering their services, 
whether we wished them or not, we sought relief in the return- 
train for 

POMPEII. 
XII. 

''Tusculanum et Pompejanum valde me delectant," vrrote 
Cicero, in his time, who had a summer-seat at the latter. 
So we may truly say, Herculaneum and Pompeii were equally 
attractive to us, as we entered the latter by the two solitary 
upright posterns of the principal ancient gateway. 

" Antiquity at Pompeii," says Yalery, " ceases to be the 
vague, remote, and uncertain antiquity of books, commen- 
tators and antiquarians — it is real, living antiquity, in propria 
persona, if the expression may be allowed. It may be felt, 
seen, and touched." 

XIII. 

Accompanied by one of the appointed guides of the district 
— a soldier — we made our first visit to the former residence of 



THE SENTINEL. 85 



Diomedes — one of the finest houses in the suburbs — which 
afforded a fine specimen of the pubUc and private life of the 
Romans. We may remark here, that the plans of both were 
usually alike. That generous old citizen — he was tcry ancient 
— was, doubtless, an epicure — fond of good living, and a 
smackler of good wines ; for he had an ample cellar, with an 
arched vaulting, in which several large amphorae, or jars, were 
still standing. Near the outer gangway, they point out to 
you the impress of his wife's face on the side of the wall. 
You could not mistake it if you wished, for the imprint of her 
bosom was visibly distinct in a mould of lava when they 
excavated here. It seems that she and the other ladies of 
the house had fled into the cellar for safety, and when 
her skeleton was discovered, in digging out the basement, 
her bracelets and all her personal ornaments were found 
upon her. 

XIV. 

The Street of the Tombs followed closely to this mansion ; 
and not far from it was that of the family of Diomedes. The 
Road of the Tombs, (or, the so-called Yia Diomitiana,) is a 
real street of the dead. The most remarkable monument is 
that which was erected by Nevolaja Tychi, in honor of her 
husband Caius Numitius, having in its front, in alt-relief, a 
vessel entering port. He was evidently a sea-captain, who 
sailed from this port. And another, that of Caius Calvetius, 
is considered the best-preserved cenotaph of antiquity. 

The streets of Pompeii were evidently very narrow, and 
many of them quite crooked, as you may perceive by the ruts 
of the chariot-wheels that can be very plainly traced out 
as you pass near the guard-house, where the sentinel was 



86 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

surprised, and buried at his }30st — a figure rendered ever- 
memorable by Bulwer, for such fidelity and loyalty in the 
discharge of duty, is an honor to the human race. 

The house of Sallust appeared to us the most complete and 
commodious of any that were among the ruins ; and ad- 
joining it was a shop where the products of his farm had been 
sold, such as wines and oils. The jars for the latter and the 
amphorae for the first still remained on the counter ; and on 
one of the jars we read the name of the maker, or, the potter. 

The apartment of the ladies stood nearest the garden, 
and was generally adorned with proper and characteristic 
paintings. 

The oven stood in the kitchen, ready to bake ; and the 
millstones for grinding corn were clogged to their full with 
ashes, just as their molars had ceased to move at the date 
of the eruption. 

XV. 

IS'ot far off was a house of disrepute, so indicated by 
the appropriate and emblematic priapus hanging over the 
door. The House of the Yestals, with the accompanying 
apartments and baths, stood in the neighborhood. Not far 
off was that of Castor and Pollux, which was very capaciouy, 
containing on its walls several well-preserved paintings, as well 
as some excellent game and fruit-pieces. The Mansion of the 
Faun was very profuse in its display of mosaics and paintings ; 
and in the front of the garden was a finelj^'-sculptured Sphinx. 
It was from this house that they removed the great mosaic of 
Alexander's victory over the Persians; that invaluable relic 
of most precious estimation, because it is supposed to be a 
copy of the original painting by Apelles. 



FOUNTAIN IN MOSAIC. 8t 



One of the most interesting features of this quarter was 
a beautiful little fountain, in mosaic, where all the shells that 
surrounded and composed its height were in perfect preserva- 
tion, although its style was rather too minute and Brock-like 
to be thought in good taste. A fine bronze statue adorned 
the margin of a simple little fountain in an adjoining house. 

XVI. 

We were pleased to remark the present condition of the 
warm and cold public baths. It showed that the people 
were cared for in this luxurious suburban city. These were 
very commodious and well lighted, with pavements in mosaic 
— the ceilmgs supported by figures of caryatides, well- 
preserved, and the walls ornamented with good paintings. 
Their whole plan was very similar to those of the Orient and 
Levant ; and no wonder that the descendants of the Greeks 
should have brought their fathers' domestic comforts with 
them, to their new homes, by the sea. 

On looking at the temples, they appeared so small and dis- 
proportionate to the elegance of their houses, that we con- 
cluded the deities must have been little esteemed. Even the 
Shrine of Isis formed no exception, which was placed quite 
near to the Tragic Theatre and the Odeon ; thus showing 
rather a preference for the stage and the forum. 

One of the most interesting of the novelties of this spot 
was a house that had been uncovered within a short time. It 
was ornamented with several beautiful frescoes, and a garden 
with a large fountain, round the borders of which were seve- 
ral statues of small animals, and everything around in mi- 
niature. The whole place reminded us strikingly of that 
simply-neat little town in Holland, called Brock. 



88 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AXD THE DOGE. 

XTII. 

Thus Pompeii appeared to us iu its propei^ person. We 
had no doubt, from the traces of the Custom-house which we 
made out, and from the ship on the tomb of the sea captain, 
that Pompeii had been a wealthy and populous town with a 
seaport, and extensive commercial relations. It was resorted 
to, doubtless, as a bathing place, like our own Xewport, in 
its palmier days of prosperity, now revived again by fickle 
fortune, for the sake of fashion, and display, and beauty. 
You can infer a high state of luxury and a subsequent 
decKne, from the construction of their houses, the petitessc of 
their manner of furnishing, the evidence of vice consequent 
upon luxuriousness and ease, and from the elegance and cost 
of their tombs. By such a picture of one of the provincial 
towns, we may gather a faint idea of the extent, opulence, 
and magnificence of the Roman Empire. When this, a third 
class colony-town, offers at this day so many evidences of 
wealth and elegance, what must have been the pomp and cir- 
cumstance of Ancient Rome ? 

The situation of the town was on the sea, previous to the 
eruption of '63, and its waves washed the shores of the proud 
Pompeii. That sea has vrithdrawn in its fright since its 
destruction, and in its stead the silence of its plain gives forth 
a mournful tale of the past in ruins. Your only relief from 
this painful picture, is by a retrospect to the mountain, from 
which its fierce vengeance came. As you walk through the 
streets of the deserted city, you catch glorious and pre-emi- 
nently splendid views of the majestic Vesuvius. It holds 
that whole campagim still in a thraldom of terror, and frowns 
solemnly, though sublimely, down upon those ruins which were 
buried forever in the ashes of its avalanche of fire. 



ASCENT OF THE VOLCANO. 89 



EXCURSION TO VESUVIUS. 
XVIII. 

He wlio lietli awake all niglit on the top of this mountain, 
to climb up its side by torchlight, for the purpose of seeing 
the sunrise from the Hermitage, will miss his mark as much as 
the man Diogenes, who searched for truth with a lantern. 
The high hills surrounding the position of the beholder, will 
materially lessen the effects of the sun, and it will be broad 
daylight before the sun is really up to him. Besides, the vol- 
cano is sullen, and almost invisible by day, and you can see 
nothing of its sublimity under the clouds of smoke, vapor, 
and ashes, which it pours out into the face of the sun. Who 
can behold the lightning at mid-day ? 

XIX. 

Walk with us, therefore, from the station at Portici on some 
sunny afternoon, at four, and be sure to get Michele, that 
faithful cicerone, to guide you to Kesina, the nearest town to 
Yesuvius, where fleet and sure-footed horses and mules can 
always be hired for the ascent to the Montogna. The after- 
noon was fair, and we urged our horses at full speed, in order 
to get up to the top and enjoy the sunset, which promised to 
be glorious. We had several views at the turns of the road, 
of the distant city of Naples, which lay nestled and almost 
asleep, like her beautiful children, at the head of its bay. 
Onward we clambered with breathless haste, over the rocky- 
ribbed scoria of our sterile pathvray, and raced over the road 
with wistful glances over the vine-clad scope of the hills below 
us. Nor even did we stop at the Hermit's Lodge, where our 



90 THE LAND OF THE C-ESAR AND THE DOGE. 

progress was more intricate and stubborn, but sped up and 
onward, now halting to lead, until we dismounted at last, in 
order to leave our horses in charge of the guide. 

XX. 

From this landing we commenced our undertaking on foot, 
but soon found it so laborious and tedious, that we were 
glad to seek the assistance of some pullers, one of whom 
having passed a strap around our bodies, dragged us up, 
while another pushed us from behind ; thus favored, we were 
hoisted up the marginal base of the crater, and while at rest, 
caught a sight of the majestic orb of the setting sun, which 
illuminated the whole horizon, and then plunged into the sea 
with all his fires. The sunset was incomparably gorgeous. 
The huge cone of Yesuvius, and the whole of its crater was 
bathed in violet tints of the reflected light of the declining 
sun, and the lurid hues which were cast from the volcano's 
blaze, prolonged the richness and color of its crimson to the 
,sky. This beautiful tone of light was suifused over hill, dale, 
abyss, and crag of the mountain, reached the distant islands 
of Procida and Ischia, and lighting up the nearer coast and 
bay, and threw its last mantle of gauzy golden rays, to crown 
the city, before it fled into the purple of deep twilight, behind 
the dark forests of the Neapolitan mountains, 

XXI. 

Vesuvius burned that night with increased activity, and 
hurled out its fiery showers of molten-red lava and scoria. 
Each eruption was preceded by a deep sound like muflied 
thunder, and in every throb the ignited masses gushed forth 
like the discharge of myriads of rockets, casting their red 



FIRED MOUNTAIN, 91 



glare over the mouth of the Yolcauo, with a noise like the 
whizzing of balls or the hisses of an army of angry serpents, 
and, falling, rolled in the recoil down the sides of its conical 
peak, with a ratthng and grating sound like clinkers of coal 
cast over the sheathing of an iron vessel. 

Xo language can describe the awful sublimity of the sight ! 
it was as if the thunder, lightning, hailstone and mountain had 
united to raise a vast forge for Yulcan, or to cataract a Ma- 
gara of fire on Yesuvius. 

XXII. 

We slid down Vesuvius with an Alpen stock and a rush. 
After our descent, we had the rising moon casting her rich 
light over that scene, thus adding enchantment to the terrors 
of the volcano ; and her argent glory stealing over the moun- 
tain, and among the irregular and confused masses of scoria 
and lava, ploughed the crevasses and fissures in furrows of 
silvery light. We were almost beside ourselves in the exhila- 
ration, caused by such a union of sublimity and beauty ; 
and when we had arrived at Resina, after a furious gallop 
down the mount, we called at the inn for a bottle of the 
genuine Lachryma, and drank a health to Yesuvius and Yul- 
can the Ancient ; thence we were driven off in a calessi, for 
our villa in IS'aples, and by fairy moonlight, through Portici, 
on the Bay. 

XXIII. 

Even now, as we write, at over 3,000 miles from that spot, 
"distance lends enchantment to the view," and the vision of 
the grandest reality on earth invokes inspiration to our brow, 
where imagination, aided even by the vivid powers of memory 



92 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AXD THE DOGE. 



aud fancy, cannot afford adequate expression for the. mould- 
ing of our thoughts upon this volcano. 

Despite the disasters of its different eruptions, and the 
terror which this volcanic eartli, furro^yed with lightning like 
the heavens, must inspire, the outbreakings of Vesuvius, says 
Yalery, have not the utterly destructive effects of the inunda- 
tions and other dreadful plagues of the North ; the pavement 
of the city is supplied by the lava, the brilliant scoria? of which, 
tinted with azure, ultramarine, yellow, and orange, are trans- 
formed into jewels and fancy articles, which are sold abroad ; 
the ashes it has vomited forth, produce excellent fruit, and 
the nice wine of Lachryma Christi, so gloriously sung by the 
poet, and if taken to excess, would make you, too, so 
gloriously drunk. 

XXIV. 

It is remarkable, that districts which were previously ste- 
rile, have been made fertile from the ashes of the eruptions. 
Neither in Pompeii nor at Vesuvius, is there any probability 
that any great loss of life resulted from their outbreaks, for 
very few bodies have ever been discovered in digging up the 
soil. 

A numerous population is supported, and derive the means 
of existence from Vesuvius. This immense furnace, created 
by the shore of the sea, which is its moving power — La Mon- 
tagna — thus familiarly called so at Naples — is more loved 
than dreaded by the Neapolitans ; he makes it his pride and 
his glory ; it is the most majestic decoration of his fine amphi- 
theatre — he Vf^ould be grieved to have it disappear ; and the 
inhabitants of Resina, Torre del Greco, and La Nunziata, 
have rebuilt their houses on the identical spot from which 



BRONZES IN ART. 93 



they were swept away. In fine, Yesuvius, even in the midst 
of its greatest fury, seems to have engulfed Pompeii only to 
preserve it miraculously, for the curiosity and admiration of 
posterity, who now enjoy the highest privileges of study, in 
the inspection of the relics of the arts, both of Pompeii and 
Herculaneum, which are preserved in the 

MUSEUM, 
XXV. 

The collection, called the Museum of the smaller Bronzes, 
stands probably the best on the Continent, and is equally curi- 
ous and unique. It brings us back to the daily life and occupa- 
tion of the ancients, and we are indebted again to the fostering 
care of Yesuvius, who has thus preserved these relics under its 
ashes, and thus become a guardian of antiquity and of histo- 
rical arts. 

They were as far advanced in some of the Arts as ourselves. 
We were particularly interested in some of the lamps, and the 
stands for the same ; a pair of nicely-adjusted scales, and a 
beautifully chased cup which was ornamented with the figures 
of an eagle and swan, of exquisite symmetry in form, and taste- 
ful in its decoration. Many implements of household use 
showed somewhat of the economy of their firesides and home ; 
there were thimbles, cups, urns, rouge, spindles, needles, jewels, 
and pitchers, for the ladies. You could not but be pleased 
with the patterns of their cooking utensils, which were so 
much like our own ; and a real tea-pot. I wonder if they 
drank tea in those days ? and whether it was Who long ? or 
Shoe strong ? They were very funny people in those days, if 
one can judge anything from the Reserved Cabinet, and, no 



94 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 



doubt, they properly belonged to the Age of Bronze, when the 
images of their vices were so strong as to resist the action of 
the fires of Yesuvius. It is very certain that their morals did 
not last so long — although some of their maxims were very 
pithy and wise. After looking at some pastry and cakes, which 
still looked very nice, and several kinds of preserved stone- 
fruit, we dipped our pencil in the seven-faced inkstand, be- 
fore we passed through the Gallery of Paintings, where there 
was little to admire, except some landscapes of Salvator Rosa. 
In the Duke of Salerno's collection, we saw a fine head of Co- 
lumbus by Parmegiauo, and a very good portrait by Raphael. 
The Studj contains a splendid array of large Bronzes. The 
figure of the young Mercury — so full of grace and artless — 
(wanting only his caduceus,) was found at Pompeii. There is 
only the head remaining of a noble horse's bust, for the 
body was melted down into church bells, by a certain arch- 
bishop — whom we w^ont name — a zealot. 

XXVI, 

A fine single horse still remains entire ; and besides the finest 
bust of Plato you could possibly imagine, of serene beauty 
of countenance, and the hair most artfully wrought, a fine 
Seneca, two discoboli, an Apollo, and two Satyrs, one sleep- 
ing, the other lying on his bottle, and snapping his fingers — 
the idea of a drunkard, and the exquisite head of a Roman 
lady, were the only attractive pieces that occupied our atten- 
tion. Thus having closed our course of inner sight, we with- 
drew from the Museum, in order to be driven once more over 
the Capo di Monte. 



ETHIOPIAN MINSTRELS. 95 

XXVII. 

Again we dismouiited to walk over its beautiful grounds 
and found the prominent point whence we could catch our last 
view of Naples from this quarter. 

While descending the mountain in an opposite direction, we 
rode by the side of some highly-cultivated vineyards, over 
which we could get a fair prospect of the Campagna, the bay 
and Mount Yesuvius, through the interstices of the leafy fes- 
toons of the vines, which hung from their trellised arbors. 

Soon after we crossed over by the side of the Ponte Rosso 
— the ruins of an ancient Roman acqueduct — another evidence 
of the strength of the Empire — and as we were turning off on 
to another road, from this point, we were beset by a parcel of 
!N"eapolitan beggar-boys, who amused us exceedingly, by their 
musical performances on their jaws, or by the chattering of 
their teeth — a species of amateur practice which they indulge 
in for charity, but so skillfully executed, that it would have 
been creditable to any of the celebrated bone-players among 
the Ethiopian Minstrels, Erom this diversion we were con- 
ducted to the walls of the City Cemetery, which was laid out 
in the Italian style, the stone lying flat over the graves, and 
ornamented according to the usual taste of the Orient. After 
having concluded our walk through the grounds, we took our 
seats again in the carriage, and by the most direct road pro- 
ceeded to the city. 

XXVIII. 

As we were driving, after dinner, upon the Chiaja, we met 
the king as he was taking an airing in an open barouche, and 
driving himself, having now no other escort than two out- 
riders in front of his carriage. 

That evening we spent at the San Carlo, listening to " Na- 



96 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

bucho." The company was in better voice than on a former 
occasion, but like all Yerdi's music, we found the Opera roisy 
and tempestuous, for it was rather a composite of many other 
operas, by Genius, than a creation of his own, 

XXIX. 

In omitting to state, that the collection of vases in the 
Museum had many objects of interest, besides being very 
gifted with articles of great worth, and that many of the 
models were of a form much superior to the works of the 
present day, I had almost forgotten a place for the very 
choice assembly of stucco paintings, adorning the walls of 
a lower department of the Bourbon G-allery, and most of 
which were gathered from Herculaneum and Pompeii. 

There were several admirable fruit and game-pieces, which 
had been removed from the dining rooms of different houses ; 
but the finest paintings were a fresco, representing the separa- 
tion of Briseis from Achilles, and a line-drawing on marble, 
of Theseus killing the Centaur, which is the best-preserved 
drawing of antiquity, and will bear close and minute examina- 
tion. Every one knows of the mosaic of the Pompeii 
Doves. Some of the dancing-girls are full of grace and 
aerial ; and there are numerous other paintings, which com- 
bine simplicity of design and expression, with the most care- 
fully-finished workmanship. Several mosaics, and some 
humorous scenes, prove the high state of perfection which the 
Greeks had attained in works of that kind. The gem of the 
Medal Gallery is the celebrated Cup of Sardonyx, one foot in 
diameter, representing the Nile, Orus, Isis, and the Nymphs 
of the Nile, which is, otherwise, known as the Farnese Tazza, 
and was found in the ruins of Adrian's villa, near Rome. 



BROTHERS IN WHITE HOODS. 9t 



THE CAMULDULITES. 
XXX. 

The Yomero, over which the road to the Camuldulite Con- 
vent passes, seems to be the crater of an ancient volcano, in 
which arise several hills, covered with the strongest, most 
varied, and confused vegetation, presenting a singular and 
enchanting aspect. Our bridle path was cut through the 
natural fissures of the hill, and, at one point, where two cliffs 
separated, the chasm opened, so as to give a fine prospect of 
the fortress of Mount St. Elmo. The convent is prettily 
situated on the summit of the mountain, and has one of the 
finest views in the world — commanding, from its terrace, the 
Gulfs of jS'aples and Pozzuoli, with their islands, the extin- 
guished craters of Solfaterra and Astrumi, the Lake of 
Agnaiio, Cape Misenum, the castle of Baiae, and the bound- 
less sea. Yesuvius crowns the extreme arm of the Bay of 
Xaples, and, with its shores lined with pretty white villas, just 
dotting the margin like shells on the sea-coast, is embraced 
within the reach of this noble panorama. We never saw a 
spot better suited for retirement, or a convent ; the monks 
are Benedictines, and, with their long beards, their gowns and 
hoods of white woolen, and wooden sandals, are themselves 
quite picturesque. We were shown about the grounds ; and the 
remarkable places to be seen from thence, were pointed out 
by one of the brothers, who afterwards showed us their 
church, and refreshed us with an excellent glass of native 
wine. Who would not be a monk on the top of Camuldino, 
if pure air, and simple life and habit, give such health and 



98 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

roses to the cheeks, as bloomed on the lips of this amiable 
friar ! — " Buon giorno fraile ! Buon giorno lei ! Acldio — 
grazia ! Addio." 

XXXI. 

We had an amusing donkey-race on our way down the 
mountain, which kept our hoy on a very brisk trot, until we 
were pitched over the back of the little beast ; but, we 
started again, running at full tilt, until we arrived at the foot 
of the hill, where our carriage awaited us. In the village, we 
saw some of the people at their country cafes, and soldiers 
pitching the discus as we were driven by them, and from one 
shop we were saluted by a band of industrious females, while 
beggars ever besieged the carriage with their cries of ''Ah I 
Carita ! Signor ! Carita ! me-mori di fame ! piccuola moneta ! 
Signor por Dio ! — Signor ! buon viaggio ! Addio !" 

XXXII. 

Again we are in the broad street, or Toledo — the active, 
bustling thoroughfare of Kaples — the heart of the metropolis — 
with its hurrying crowds and gay plumage ; where carriages, 
soldiers, and plebians, block the way. The current of human 
life throbs fearfully and higlily through this great arter}' of 
the city ; and the conflicts of human passions, the hopes, fears, 
loves, ambition, and disappointments, stir up the blood of its 
people with the same terrible emotions, as the upheavings of 
its moving fires of Vesuvius, or the swells of its beautiful sea. 

XXXIII. 

Thus Naples appeared to us on the eve of our departure, 
with its volcano and waters, bays, palaces, beggars, lazaroni, 
and joys ; it has passed from our vision, but not 



NEAPOLITAN SCENERY. 



" Like snow upon a river, 
A moment seen, then gone forever !" 

But it still lingers among the beautiful gems of thought and 
travel which we have gathered together in the cabinet of our 
memory. We have only, on leaving, to take our last look at 
its skies, waters and mountains, and to say — not like the 
cockney traveller — " be sure to eat macaroni at Naples, and 
roast an egg on Vesuvius," but rather, what an Italian once 
said to the English lady — in the ecstasy of his praise, — 
" Vede Napoli, 6 poi mori." 



ROME 



THE PAPAL DOMINIONS 



THE CLASSIC COAST. 

I. 

Owing to recent robberies committed by brigands on the 
Cape, and a longing to be in Rome at the festivals of the 
holy-week, preceding Easter Sunday, we were unable either 
to enjoy the salubrious air of Sorrento — under whose sky 
Bernardo Tasso wrote, ''Men were immortal" — or to visit 
the ruins of Poestum and the Azure Grotto, in the island of 
Capri — so called from the beautiful hue it receives from the 
reflection of the waters. 



We left Xaples by sea in advance of an anticipated cou;p- 
d- etat, and in spite of numerous objections which had been 
urged against the steamer " Maria Christina," and also in the 
very face of a violent rain, which totally spoiled the effects 
of the sunset on the gulf. 

The storm continued w^ith unabated force for some time, 
and the wind increased with such violence towards the eve- 
ning, that our captain deemed it prudent to put into the port 
of Baice, and stop there for the night. Our boat was filled 
with passengers of both sexes, and the ladies' cabin was 
crowded with the wives and children of the officers of the 
Swiss Guards of the palace — those mercenary soldiers of the 
king — accompanied by their favorite poodles. 

These families had not yet overcome the out-bursting of 



104 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AXD THE DOGE. 

deep grief attendant upon tlieir separation from tlieir husbands 
and parents. Tlie scene, at parting, was truly heart-rending 
and affecting, even to a stranger looking on. Such leave- 
takings were witnessed, as only could be called forth by those 
who dreaded that they should never meet their protectors and 
guardians again on earth. It was very evident to us, that 
something more than a political storm was brewing, and thai 
the cloud which hung m the gloom of sorrow, upon their 
brows, would break forth in torrents of blood and terrible 
revolutions. 

We had two storms, therefore, to contend with — the ele- 
ments without, and the deeper struggles of emotions and of 
feelings of passionate affections within. 

III. 

The glorious orb of day rose upon us in the Bay of Baioe, 
affording in its rich and gladsome light a strong contrast 
to the gloom and storm of yesterday, no less so than that 
which its present low coast, with its old, lonely, and forlorn 
castle, presented to that delightful shore which Horace cele- 
brated as the most delicious in the universe, — 

" Nullus in orbe sinus Bajis proelncit amcenis/' 

We fear Horace flattered, as he was the toady of his patron 
Augustus ; for Cicero once apologized to the senate for having 
been seen in Baioe, and history tells us of its associations with 
the tyranny of Marius, Ceesar, and Pompey, of its connection 
with the poisoning of young Marcellus, and of the inhuman 
lusts, prodigal luxury, and horrid nature of the Emperor 
Kero. 

The wreck of its miserable castle still survives to rear its 



ELYSIAN FIELDS. 105 



towers in relief against the promontory of the tall Cape of 
Misenum. Its bridges and mole are still picturesque in 
their aspect ; and the ruins of the ancient Roman baths still 
remain ; whilst around are the classic grounds of Yirgilian 
beauty, where the sounding names of Avernus and Lake Lu- 
crine mingle with the debris of the amphitheatres and temples, 
and the old, familiar sounds of the " Styx, Acheron, and the 
Elysian Fields," are not forgotten, in the presence of the 
Grotto of the Cumoean Sybil. 

IV. 

Having sailed from this harbor about eight o'clock, we con- 
tinued on our way, passing always in sight of the coast, near 
the islands of Ischia and Xisida, and within full view of the 
bold parapets of the State Prison on the former, and the 
Lazaretto of the latter. Geata, again, recently rendered 
famous by the presence of Pius the Xinth in exile, was 
the only spot of interest that we passed, until we came within 
the jurisdiction of the Roman seas, at Terracina. 

Pius the Sixth, whose name is also connected with the 
draining of the Pontine marshes, by building a palace, vast 
granaries, and other edifices there, had almost revived the 
memory of its ancient power and civilization, when Terracina 
was a port of entry, and possessed an active and extensive 
commerce. At the western end of the Pontine marshes, Monte 
Circello, which boasts of a more than classic fame, reminded 
us of the fabulous metamorphis of Ulyses' crew of sailors, who 
were turned into swine by the fascinating Circe. The pigs 
now abounding in the neighborhood claim to be the regular 
descendants of the companions of Ulyses, who were sung by 
Ilomer. ^Modern discovery, and the use of approved charts 



106 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

and the compass, caused us to be relieved of every anxiety 
and apprehension of danger to our vessel, as she rounded the 
tall cliff of the bold Cape ; and, as we had not the fascina- 
tion of even a single lovely female to allure us from the 
object of our travel, we had no excuse for not arriving at 
Civita Vecchia early on the following morning. 



The entrance to this port, supposing it to have been the 
ancient Ostium, or near it, was as narrow as it was difficult ; 
but once within its mouth, the vessel was soon snugly moored 
under the lee of the Mole of Trajan. After having effected 
a landing through the usual array of policemen and custom- 
house officers, we had some difSculty in finding the American 
Consul. 

As it was necessary to have him countersign our passports, 
before we could leave this town for Rome, while awaiting his 
return, (for we afterwards found him, and also learned from 
him that he was an Italian and no American, ) we endured a 
strict examination of our baggage at the Duano, during which, 
I regret to recount the loss of a little temper, and the ruin of 
a pair of my best pantaloons. The proper official, not having 
handled my valise as promptly as was desirable, in my hurry, 
and my displeasure being somewhat increased by his coolness, 
fthe nonchalance of all public servants is remarkable,) and 
being more or less irritated in proportion to their delay, or 
their want of proper understanding of the Italian of the schools, 
I became desperate. You get very mad abroad, if you are 
green ; and, in a fit of national independence, of the American 
wood-sawyer's kind, I seized the trunk, and threw it with a 
violent jerk clear into the room of the Duano. The affrighted 



JONATHAN IN A HURRY. 107 

official moved both his eyes and his toes ; and when we opened 
the trunk for examination, it was quite melancholy to per- 
ceive that my best inexpressibles had taken a large dose of 
pure castor oil, and the rest of the bottle had surfeited the 
trunk. 

For the good of mankind, I append this moral to our tale — 
" Friend Jonathan, never be in too great a hurry in your 
travels in foreign parts ; and pour a little oil on the waters, 
but not in your valise." 

VI. 

At last, our Consul being found, we tendered our thanks 
for his courtesy. He refused (rare instance of self-denial ! ) 
to take any fee for his vise. He amused us, during this visit, 
by an account of a famous brigand, who was imprisoned in the 
castle of the city. The rumor was that this celebrated cap- 
tain of banditti had killed some thirty persons during a 
career of thirty years. But the robber indignantly denied the 
accusation, and charged a slander upon those maligners who 
had defamed his reputation. "It was not so," he said; he 
''would not be libeled thus." He had "never killed but fif- 
teen." " He confessed to that number." There is nothing like 
precision in the statement of particulars, even in case of hang- 
ing. One may show reason, even in his madness ! 



In company with a Spanish gentleman, Clarence and myself 
joined in taking an extra post-chaise for Rome ; and the post- 
illion having packed the carriage, outside the gate, under the 
eye of a gens d^arme, we started away, and after two relays 
and five hours of hard driving, arrived at the postern of the 
Barberini Gate. 



108 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

YIII. 

It was locked and bolted. " What ! shut out from Rome ?" 
said Clarence. " Xo," said the seiior. A gruff voice, behind 
the bars, cried — " Qui eke? forestiere? Non! Amid, amid! 
my friend !" — '' Signore cki va ? que patria ? Romano, II pape ! 
Buono ! Entrate! — via!^^ The heavy bolts were then sullenly 
drawn aside ; the chains rattled as the massive door swung 
lazily on its hinges out ; a mysterious head peered through 
the open door ; a lantern is thrust into the carriage-window 
— then a hand ! It is withdrawn with a clenched fullness ; 
perhaps a colonnata is in its folds. A laugh follows. Then — 
*' Buona notte, signore ! Andate cavalli!^^ The Condottori 
mounts his box — the doors slam to — and whip-lash snaps like 
a spark of hickory — the wheels roll round, and away we rattle 
through the suburbs of the Imperial City. 



ROME. 



We entered Rome by moonlight, and tlie Eternal City, 
hushed in the solemn silence of the night, was bathed in a 
flood of the richest light. We were wheeled right by the 
porticoes of Saint Peter's ; and the moonbeams slept upon the 
colonnades, whilst the light sheen of the merry fountains 
glistened in the court, and the broad shadow of the obelisk 
marked the solemn hour of One. 



THE COLISEUM. 

II. 

" Arclies on arches, 
Her Coliseum stands ; the moonbeams shine 
As 't were its natural torches ; for divine 

Should be the light which streams here, to illume 
This long-explored but still eshaustless mine 
Of contemplation. 

Ptuins of years." 

— Childe Harolde, ccxxxiv. 

It was a transport of deep joy to be in Rome, there to col- 
lect mementoes for a life-time, and a day from which to date 
an epoch. We looked upon the Coliseum and its colossal 
mass, by moonlight, with all the grand effect of that mystical 
light aggrandizing its ruins, and its arcades appeared truly 



110 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

resplendent. Each step, as we clambered over the different 
stages of the majestic pile, varied the wonderful effects of light 
and shadow, as the moonbeams poured in argent beauty 
through the open portals of the arches, and opened a new 
chapter in the history of the changes which had taken place 
during eighteen centuries. Grander still, and more magically 
mysterious, when torch-light glared upon the rich solemnity of 
its fallen grandeur, and lent a feature of enchantment, as 
broader shadows were thrown, and more varied views ob- 
tained, as we looked through the porches to the starry sky 
above. Ko monument of antiquity — for none so fit to repre- 
sent the image of . ancient Rome — has experienced so many 
different fortunes, or such a diversity of uses, as this. A mag- 
nificent circus of gladiators, under Titus — an arena of martyrs, 
under Diocletian, and a military redoubt ; it was an hospital 
during plagues, or a list for tournaments of knights ; then a 
stone quarry, from which most of the palaces of Rome have 
been built, and almost converted into a woolen-factory under 
Sixtus V. ; it was saved from such desecration, only to suffer 
a demolition of one half of its ancient proportions to construct 
a better half in good repair. What barbarians have handled 
its vastness, to corrupt its beauty by a taint of their sacrile- 
gious art ! Its ruined appearance is one of its greatest beau- 
ties. It has already been too much renovated, and rebuilt, 
and modernized. 

The Cross is now planted within the walls of the amphi- 
theatre where Christian martyrs were burned, — 

" Ta3da lucebis in ilia, 
" Qua. stantes ardenti, qui fixo gutture furaant,'" 

and the early Neophytes bled, and breathes its soft influences 



A POINT ON THE PIAZZA, 111 



over the remains of a barbarous age, and over scenes of gla- 
diatorial shows. 

It still stands a monument of the victories, festivals, crimes, 
and imperial pleasures of ancient Rome — the ruined Mauso- 
leum to thee. 

" Rome ! — my country ! — city of the soul ! — 
The Orphans of the Heart must turn to thee ; 
Lone mother of dead empires, come and see 
The Niobe of nations ! There she stands, 
Chaos of ruins ! Who shall trace the void. 
O'er the dim fragments cast a lunar light, 
And say, ' Here was, or is,' where all is doubly night ?'* 

* * * >ii ^ * 

' ' A ruin ! — yet what ruin ! From its mass 
Walls, palaces, half cities, have been rear'd !" 

* >fi ;k * ^ * 

" While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand : 
When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall : 
And when Rome falls — the world !" 

— Childe Harolde, cxlv., et passim. 

ST. Peter's. 

III. 

If Rome be the chief object of the traveller in Italy, St, 
Peter's is the first wonder that he seeks to contemplate. 

We have spoken of the famous colonnade of Bernini, the 
chef d''c£iivre of his theatrical compositions, which incloses the 
magnificent oval piazza, and serves as a proscenium to the 
colossal peristyle of St. Peter's. This double colonnade of 
travertine marble seems light and simple, from a certain point 
of the piazza ; and I have heard of an Englishman, a consci- 



112 THE LAXD OF THE CESAR AXD THE DOGE 

entious traveller, who, not liaving been informed of it during 
his stnj at Rome, returned post to this spot, alighted from 
his carriage, and, after viewing it a moment, resumed his 
journey with satisfaction. 

In the middle of the piazza rises the obelisk of red granite, 
which, being without hieroglyphics, can only be a Roman 
imitation of the Egyptian obelisk brought over by Caligula. 
The two majestic fountains, that throw up their waters on 
each side of the piazza, worthily complete its decoration, 
whether seen by day, when the rays of the sun form brilliant 
rainbows, or at night, when the moonlight adds to the white- 
ness of their foaming streams, whose unceasing murmurs in- 
spire and cherish the soul's imaginings. 

IV. 

The history of the construction of St. Peter is almost the 
history of the art. This first of basahcs, begun by Bra- 
mante in 1503, erected on the basalic built by Constantino, 
continued by Guiliano and Antonio San G-allo, Giocondo, 
Raphael, Peruzze and Michael Angelo, was not finished till 
the seventeenth century, by Carlo Maderno. Its front, by 
the last, is more fitted for a palace than a temple, and, by a 
deplorable fatality, the vrorst of the projects was the one that 
prevailed. Opposite the principal door is the celebrated 
mosaic, called the jN"avicella, or little boat of St. Peter, by 
Giotto and his pupil. The basso-relievos of the middle door, 
very inferior to the doors of the baptistry at Florence, are 
still distinguished for the beautiful divisions of the compart- 
ments, which are executed with remarkable delicacy, and are 
interesting for the accuracy of the costumes. The frames 
present divers subjects of mythology and history, where may 



A WORLD IN ITSELF. 113 



be observed Jnpiter and Leda, the Rape of Ganymede, some 
nymphs and satyrs, with other smgular devices for the en- 
trance of the most imposing of Christian temples. The 
plan is that of a Latin cross, and is composed of three 
naves. 

The impression produced by the sight of the basalic inside, 
when we viewed it at the ceremony of "Washing the feet of 
the Twelve Apostles," by the Pope, was not adequate to our 
preconceived ideas of its extent, and it seemed less than it 
really was. Although the cortege was imposing, and there 
were several elegant costumes to be seen, as the church was 
in mourning, it was impossible to get a just idea of its vast 
proportions. 

The sense of disappointment wears away after a few visits, 
when the study of the different parts has convinced you of its 
immensity. Then it becomes a living city, through which one 
loves to wander. Its light, though too brilliant to be reli- 
gious, and its climate (if one may so say,) are all softness ; 
for it has been remarked that the temperature is nearly 
always the same, and that a kind of agreeable vapor is dif- 
fused through the air. 

V. 

A world in itself — it fills the eye and satisfies the soul. A 
vast multitude moved on it, and yet it seemed unfilled. 

The population, the manners of the city, moreover, offer a 
thousand contrasts ; poor peasants, loaded with theu' bag- 
gage, prostrate themselves on this pavement of marble, and 
before the altars resplendent with gold and precious stones. 
On entering, they had kissed the holy door, which profane 
and thouo-htless travellers cover with their names. Persons 



114 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AXD THE DOGE. 



of the lower order talk of their affairs before a confessional, 
with their Confessor, who is inside — a familiar conference, 
which precedes the confession of each. A penitentiary taps 
the faithful gently on the head, with a long wand, as they 
kneel before him — a species of public penance for their sins. 
The penitentiaries of various languages come to receive at 
their tribunal the ever-differing, but still substantially the 
same, expression of our frailty and wretchedness. Confrater- 
nities ranged in order, or other monks, take their stations at 
the altars, while, in the distance, resounds the solemn chant 
of the priest performing the services in the chapel of the choir, 
with the pealing of the organ ; or else the slow and harmo- 
nious chiming of the bells of St. Peter's falls on the ear. ♦At 
times, the basalic is a vast and silent desert ; the pure rays 
of the setting sun penetrate the diaphanous recesses of the 
temple with then- golden fires, and fall on some brilliant 
mosaic, the imperishable copy of some masterpiece of paint- 
ing ; while some artist or some sage, undeceived as to this 
world's things, such as can be found only at Rome, gives way 
to his musings in some retired corner, or some poor man, 
still more indifferent, sleeps profoundly, stretched along a 
bench. 

VI. 

The interior of St. Peter's is rich, ornate, and magnificent, 
rather than tasteful ; but tlie bad and exaggerated which 
abounds there, does not fail, on the whole, to contribute to 
the effect, and to have a kind of grandeur. 

It must ever be a matter of regret, that the Greek cross of 
Michael Angelo was not preferred to the lengthening of the 
Latin Cross of Maderno. 

The bronze statue of St. Peter, whose right toe has been 



THE BADALCHIX. 115 



worn out by the kisses of the devotional, was not a Jupiter, 
as some suppose. This custom of kissing statues of great 
men, was common among the ancient Romans ; for Juvenal 
makes mention of a bronze statue of a citizen, whose hands 
had been worn away by the repeated kisses of the Roman 
people — an expression of respect to his greatness. 

The great badalchin placed over the bodies of St. Peter 
and Paul, was an enormous conception of Bernini — not desti- 
tute of ingenuity nor of brilliancy, although somewhat ca- 
pricious in the taste of putting the head of a braying ass 
on the base of the columns — meaning thereby, to represent 
his rival, Borromini. It required the genius of Michael An- 
gelo to execute the conception of Bramante, in the immortal 
cupola which completes this sublime creation of architectural 
grandeur. Thanks be to him who raised it so high aloft ! 

VII. 

This greatest and chief of basalica, vrith the grand idea of 
Bernini seating the four doctors of the Greek and Latin 
Church to uphold the Apostle's Pulpit — ^its mausoleums and 
tombs of costly workmanship and art — its chapels, so-called, 
with the richest decorations — its exquisite paintings, relievos, 
and innumerable fine statues, adequately represent the splen- 
dor of that Church which ruled the world for ages, by the 
thunders of the Yatican. It is to modern Rome what the 
Coliseum is to the ancient. It would be useless to enter into 
further details as to what constitutes the beatitudes of this 
edifice. It has already been better described by Yalery. 
Under the auspices of such names as Bernini, Bramante, 
Raphael, and Michael Angelo, there is no wonder that it has 
always been the glory, pride and boast of the Universal 



116 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

Roman Church, and will forever remam to be considered as 
the triumph of human art. 

One must ascend to the cupola to judge truly of the extent 
of St. Peter's, and to admire Michael Angelo as he deserves. 
He was eighty years old when he finished this work. It is a 
kind of journey to the top. A population of workmen, always 
occupied in repairs, inhabits the summit of the temple, which 
seems like a public place in the air. 

The stairs lead to the interior entablature near the glorious 
promise made to the first apostle, inscribed in letters six feet 
high, (they seemed not a foot from the pavement), with 

'' Tu es Petrus, et sujper hanc jpetram edificabo ecdesiam meam^ 
et tihi dabo claves regni ccdorumP 

''Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my 
church, and I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of 
heaven." 

From the famous bronze ball, which is large enough to hold 
sixteen persons seated, the aspect of the city, the Campagna 
of Rome, the Apennines, and the sea, is most magnificent. 

CEREMONIES OF HOLY WEEK. 

vin. 

The ceremonies of the day of Palm Sunday had concluded 
on the night that we entered Rome, the day on which the 
Church coraniemorates the triumphal entry of our Saviour into 
Jerusalem, and on which the Pope blesses and distributes the 
palm as he receives, successively, the proper homages from all 
the dignitaries of his domhiion. 

We were in time, therefore, for all the interesting ceremo- 



THE pope's MASS. 11*1 



nies of the Holy Week, the season when the Roman Catholic 
Church wears the grandest insignia of her pomp, and an occa- 
sion which is far more instructive and interesting than the 
festivals of the Carnival, because a deep philosophy is hidden 
under the higher pageants of the Church. The object of exter- 
nal rites in religion, says the Rt. Rev. Bishop England, is the 
promotion of enlightened piety, by the instruction of the mind 
and the amelioration of the heart. The great object of her 
ceremonial is to exhibit the tragedy of the redemption by 
the use of such natural modes as to produce deep impressions 
for the religious improvement of a redeemed race. 

The Pope is not only a bishop, but the visible Head of 
the Church. He is also a temporal sovereign, and has his 
proper state officers attached to his court. 

These, and his body of clerical attendants, are to be found 
in his private chapel, where the offices are performed by his 
clergy, but in which the proper respect is always paid to his 
Holiness, both as the pontiff and the sovereign; and he oc- 
casionally performs some few of the ecclesiastical functions. 
The beautiful hymn of the " Siabat Mater" is generally sung 
at the offertory of his Holiness' Mass. 

THE TENEBRCE, OR " THE SHADES." 
IX. 

The nocturns or vigils of the afternoon of Wednesday, 
properly belonging to Thursday, are among the most im- 
pressive of the services, performed during the Passion Week ; 
and the office, called tenebrce, or darkness, either because it was 
celebrated in the darkness of night, or, more probably, from 
the obscurity in which the church is left at the conclusion of 



118 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

the office, when the lights are extinguished from the triangle 
of the thirteen candles, is as imposing as any of the ceremo- 
nies of this season. 

The thirteen candles, representing the Saviour and the 
t\Yelve apostles, are successively put out, except one at the 
apex, as the services draw to a close, apparently to typify the 
desertion of each apostle in their order, leaving Christ alone, 
in the awful crisis upon Calvary, who, as the orient ou high, 
was to shed his light upon the darkness of the world. 

The Pope wore a reddish purple cope of satin, and a red 
surge cappa. The Cardinals were in violet cassocks and 
cappas — the other attendants in the usual dress. 

The antiphon of the first Psalm is introduced in soprano, 
which the choir takes up ; after the versicle, the PaUi- noster 
is said in a low voice ; four voices sing in parts, the lesson of 
the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah; then the invocation 
to the Jews, and all sinners to be converted : the invitation is, 
"Jerusalem! Jerusalem! turn to the Lord thy God!" 
The responsories to each lesson vrere sung by some of the cho- 
risters ; then the lessons of the second nodiirn, were a homily 
from the fifty-fourth Psalm, and those of the third nodurn are 
from the first chapter of Corinthians, relating to the mstitutiou 
of the blessed Eucharist by the Saviour, on the night that he 
was betrayed. 

After these lessons, and their proper responsories, the office 
of the Laud commences. The proper antiphon, "Thou wilt be 
justified, Lord," &c., precedes the psalm Miserere. When 
the other psalms, and the canticle of Moses, after the passage 
of the Red Sea, have been concluded, and all the candles on 
the stand have been extinguished, save the one on the summit 
of the triangle, the versicle is sung, the antiphon to the can- 



ALLEGKl's MISERERE. 119 



tide of Zacliary — " The traitor gave them a sign, saying, 
whomsoever I shall kiss is he, hold ye him," is performed : 
the canticle ^' Benedict us, ^^ is next sung : then the antiphon is 
repeated. As soon as the lights upon the altar, and upon the 
balustrade, have been put out, the holy father comes down 
from his throne, and whilst two treble voices sing the versicle, 
which follows : " Christ tvas made for us obedient, even unto 
death" — he kneels, the Lord's Prayer is secretly said : after- 
wards four voices sing the Miserere of AUegri, in alternate 
verse, but they all join in the last passage, with other voices, 
which, dying away, seem about to be lost, until they again 
rise upon the concluding notes. 

The Pontiff now reads the closing prayer, the last words of 
which are scarcely audible, and a noise succeeds, like that 
which was made in the Jewish assemblies, when, in reading 
the book of Esther, the name of Aman was mentioned ; it is 
significant of that confusion of nature, which occurred at the 
Redeemer's death, v/hen the Centurion, and they who were 
with him, returned into the city, declaring that he was indeed 
the Son of God ; many striking their breasts, bewailed their 
offences, and were truly converted. Such are the sentiments 
in which the Church desires her children should depart from 
this office, says Bishop England. 

Nothing of human sound could be more sweet and solemnly 
affecting than the chanting of the Miserere, in the chapel of 
the Sixtine, that afternoon. 

On the evening of this and the two following days it is 
usual, at the Hospital della Trinita, for many respectable 
persons — among wliom will frequently be found cardinals and 
prelates — to wait at table upon pilgrims, who are received to 
hospitality in this establishment, for some days, whilst they 



120 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

perform tlieir religious duties. The same acts of humility and 
chanty are performed by some of the most respectable and 
religious ladies of Kome, in a separate apartment for the fe- 
male pilgrims, who, at this solemn time, come to indulge their 
devotions in the Holy City. 

MAUNDY THURSDAY. 
X. 

So called from the mandatum or command given by the 
Saviour, is usually celebrated after the performances of High- 
Mass and the papal benediction of the people. After the 
Cardinals have changed their vestments and returned from the 
gallery at the front of St. Peters, a few precede the Pope to 
the place prepared for the ceremony of washing the feet. The 
thirteen poor persons, whose feet were to be washed and who 
afterwards dined with the Pope, were priests from the Convent 
of the Trinity, The object of the ceremony was two-fold : 
lirst, to preserve the recollection of the interesting passage in 
the lives of the Saviour and his apostles, and secondly, to give 
the Pontiff the opportunity of learning and practising a lesson 
of humility taught by his Divine Master. 

The priests whose feet were to be washed — they did not 
appear to be very dirty — were seated on elevated benches, 
wearing white habits. 

When the holy father had left the gallery of the benedic- 
tion, and had changed his former garments for a purple stole, 
a cope of dark-red satin with a silver breast-plate and a mitre 
of silver cloth, he came to the place prepared for him in the 
hall. After he rose from his seat, the attendant-squire seemed 
to do all the washing and to dry the feet, and then a towel 



HOLY RELICS. 121 



and a nosegay were presented to each, after his holiness had 
touched the foot with a clean and prettily-laced towel. A 
treasurer followed, who, in turn, gave to each a medal of gold 
and one of silver. 

His holiness having returned to his seat, his towel is re- 
moved, and the assistant prince pours water on his hands ; the 
first cardinal priest presents the towel to dry them ; the holy 
father resumes his cope, intones the Pater nosier, and recites 
the concluding prayer, beseeching the Almighty not to despise 
the fallen race of men, which is yet the work of his own hands. 

During this ceremony there were over one thousand candles 
burning around the balustrade of the badalchin of St. Peter. 

GOOD FRIDAY. 
XI. 

By that peculiar grace of Divine Providence, by which our 
joys arise from sorrows, and our best gifts from affliction, the 
day of our blessed Lord's crucifixion has come to be called, 
by Christians, " Good Friday." The Romish Church, while 
observing it, from its earliest period, as a day of mourning and 
of solemn ritual observance, has also marked its event by the 
exhibition of the most precious relics. On the evening of 
Friday, the Pope and Cardinals come in procession from the 
Sixtine Chapel to St. Peter's, and exhibit the three most 
remarkable, from the balcony over the image of St. Yero- 
nica. They are believed to be a portion of the true cross, 
the blade of the lance with which the Saviour's side was 
pierced, and the figure of his face, impressed upon a cloth, 
applied by a pious daughter of Sion, when he labored on his 
painful way to Calvary. 



122 THE LAND OF THE CJESAR AND THE DOGE. 

The sublime strains of the Miserere of Cherubini swept 
through the aisles of St. Peter's, at the close of the day ; and 
in the evening, at the Church of the Monte di Pieta del 
Pelerini, there was an abundant supper prepared for the 
multitude of pilgrims who had resorted to Kome during 
Passion Week. The ceremony of washing their feet was 
performed in an upper chamber, upon the poor, by some of the 
noblest ladies and princesses of the city ; and whilst they were 
engaged in their graceful acts of disinterestedness, up-stairs, 
many of the nobles and princes of the empire were equally 
active, in their humility, in serving the male members of their 
common faith, at several lengthy tables, that had been 
spread through the corridors and halls of the Convent Re- 
fectory. 

SATURDAY. 
XII. 

To-day the noble Church of St. John of Laterano offers a 
grander spectacle than the Papal Chapel. At the Sixtine, the 
blessing of the fire and incense and of the paschal candle — 
the enkindling of the new light, at new fires — the High Mass 
and Yespers, with the '' Magnificat," close the series of this 
week of Passion. The celebrant, who sings the closing prayer, 
repeats the " Dominus vobiscum," and the deacon adds two 
"alleluias" to his '' Ita missa est." The Pontiff gives the 
usual blessing ; the celebrant publishes the usual indulgences, 
and the cardinals and others retire. The administration of 
the sacrament of holy baptism, and the ordination of deacons 
at St. John in Laterano, gave us an opportunity to visit 
this imposing edifice. Like every other church in Rome, this 



PAGEANT OX THE PIAZZA. 123 



one, also, possesses its own peculiar associations connected 
with its foundation. Tradition claims for it the hallowed 
scene of the baptism of Constantine the founder, by Pope 
Sylvester. 

Under the beautiful portico of Fontana, adjoining the 
church, they still preserve the twenty-eight steps of Pilate's 
house, which were ascended and descended by Jesus Christ, 
under his passion. The steps of the Scala Santa were so worn 
out by the faithful, who ascends them on their knees, that the 
stone stairs were covered with thick planks to protect them : 
these have been worn out and renewed several times. We 
regret to say that one or two of the devotees did not strictly 
knuckle down to their penance, but rather whipped his majesty, 
the devil, round the stump, as the vulgare term this pre- 
tence of pilgrimage ; and one or two seemed very much dis- 
posed to hurry through their duty ; and, rather than ascend 
by the ordinary slow, painful and tedious process of climbing 
up by the force of their knees, materially assisted themselves 
by their heavy-shod clogs. 

The piazza of St. John presents the most colossal and no- 
ble obelisks in Rome — that of Thoutmosis II. — which was re- 
moved from Egypt to the Circus Major by Constantine, and 
thence to this spot, by Sixtus Y. It is a single block of red 
granite, ninety feet high, and covered with hieroglyphics. 

The interior of the church shows in the principal nave, one 
of the most splendid ceilings ever known, and the elaborate 
workmanship of the architect Borromini. The curious Gothic 
tabernacle standing in the middle of the building, contains 
the heads of St. Peter and Paul — relics of the most sacred 
estimation — under this work-piece of the fourteenth century. 
It is a remarkable fact that they were both consumed during 



124 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

a fire that destroyed tlie church, but by some miraculous 
agency, best kuowu to Urban, the Pope, they were restored 
to the impatient crowd of his subjects, who regarded this 
event, as one of the most brilliant achievements of his glorious 
pontificate. 

" Credat Judseus Apelles," — says Juvenal. 
" Tell that to the Marines." — Old Saw. 

The beautiful Chapel of the Corsini is simple and rich in 
its ornament, and contains a sujDcrb porphyry sarcophagus of 
Clement XII. which was formerly under the Pantheon. The 
central nave is adorned with twelve colossal statues of the 
Apostles, whose persons are rather draped than dressed with 
garments, which would surely encumber theu' movements in 
walking. Four elegantly-gilt bronze pillars support the altar 
of the Holy Sacrament : these were taken from the temple of 
Jupiter Capitolinus, and made from metal of the ships taken 
at Actium, by Augustus ; others claim that they were brought 
from Judea by Yespasian. 

The ceremonies of the day took place under the dome, the 
only part of the church retaining anything of the charac- 
teristics and gilding of its early history. As, in this church 
there are colleations of monuments from every age and coun- 
try, so at Rome, all history may be found. This admira- 
ble city assembles the mysterious monuments of Egypt, the 
poetic ckefs-d^ccuvre of the Greeks, the relics of Judea, and 
her own grand monuments. 

Outside, under the porches and walks of tlie old cloisters of 
St. John, several curious relics, besides the debris of the 
former church, and its sainted heads, were preserved. There 
were to be seen, the stone tablet on which the soldiers cast 



THE CLOISTERS AND COURTS. 125 

lots for the garment of the Lord ; one or two pillars, also, 
from Pilate's palace, and last, not least, the tahh of the Last 
Supper, of which our Saviour partook with his disciples. 
These were all exhibited under the crypts of the corridors 
running out from the cloisters. We went to the basalic of 
Santa Croce, but were not able to get a sight of a piece of 
the true Cross. Even this little church, which was founded 
by St. Helena, after the plan of the Holy Sepulchre at 
Jerusalem, had some fine columns of granite, and its associa- 
tion of historic greatness and infamy ; for it was standing on 
the ruins of the Gardens of Heliogabalus. It is now used for 
the sale of indulgences, that are here served by the Bei'- 
nardine monks. If all the pieces of the supposititiously too 
numerous and true crosses could be brought together, they 
would construct a vessel ample enough to carry, even, the 
large multitude of indulgences, granted by this church. 

Many ancient and beautiful ruins decked the wayside, in 
this uninhabited section of the suburbs, as we passed from 
Santa Croce to the noble front of Santa Maria Maggiore, 
which resembles St. John, both in having an obelisk and 
fountain, and in the over-gilding and corrupt taste of its archi- 
tecture. On entering this grand basahc, which is one of the 
most showy and splendid in Rome, one is struck with the array 
of thirty-six Ionic columns of white marble, taken from a temple 
of Juno, its superb ceiling of gilt panels, and its badalchin sup- 
ported by four pillars of porphyry. The whole decorations 
and ornaments of this edifice have a rich, sumptuous, and 
worldly effect — almost too gaudy and gay in its attire, and, 
were it not a consecrated spot, might be profaned to the 
image of a theatre. A magnificent porphyry baptism, the 
gift of Leo XII., was formerly in the Vatican. 



126 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



The Chapel of the Presepio, ordered by Sixtus Y., when 
Cardinal Montalto is admired for its form and sj-mmetry, 
which is strikingly contrasted with the prodigious richness of 
the Borghese. Some of the mosaics of the choir date back 
to the thirteenth century, while those over the arch and 
columns of the middle nave, bear a still greater age. Thus it 
often happens, and only, we believe, in Rome, that it is pos- 
sible to find simplicity and extreme magnificence combined in 
one and the same edifice. 

EASTER SUNDAY. 
X. 

Owing to the kindness of our excellent friend, Signer C, 
one of the Pope's secretaries, it was our fortune to obtain an 
excellent seat during the whole celebration of the ceremony 
of High Mass, at Easter. This, the most high of the festi- 
vals of the Church of Rome, took place at St. Peter's, at 10 
o'clock, A. M. The Pope officiated in person, and all the 
pomp and circumstance of Romanism was invoked to swell 
the most gorgeous pageant of the Catholic Church. 

St. Peter's, earth's grandest Basilica, was a fit theatre 
for this brilliant ceremonial ; no other edifice could have held 
the vast multitude which was there assembled to behold ; 
and as the crowd moved about among the numerous chapels, 
and spread themselves over the marble floor of the central 
aisle, it appeared as if a world had come together to mag- 
nify the glories of this holiday. 

The scene of the ceremony was at the grand altar, and in 
the space between the badalchin aud the choir, a hollow 
square had been decorated, and a chamber prepared, for the 



TRUMPET SOUND. 12 1 



seats of the College of Cardinals and the throne of the Pope. 
Two long ranges of stalls had been set apart for the ladies, 
who were veiled, as the court etiquette required. On our left 
w^ere the reserved places for all the Foreign Ambassadors 
at court, who were ' in full dress ; and on both sides of the 
benches of the Cardinals, the lower dignitaries of the Church 
took their position, according to their respective ranks. 
"Within the square, and ranged on either side, were the Swiss 
Guards, who stood in their picturesque costumes, after Ra- 
phael's decorations, with their halberts erect. The order of 
the procession was announced by the entrance of the Papal 
body-guard, wearing Roman helmets, decked with long, black, 
drooping plumes of horse-hair, and dressed with richly em- 
broidered coats of scarlet, and white shorts, in long cavalry 
boots. 

Shortly after, the sound of a trumpet denotes the approach 
of his Holiness ; the procession files slowly in, as the music of 
the choral band is heard. As soon as the Pope enters, the 
choristers intone, " Tu es Petrus, et sufer hcinc jpetram cedijicaho 
ecchsia7n imam, etc." — the long, full blasts of the trumpet peal 
through the air, as its notes mark the moment of his elevation, 
and he enters the conclave, borne aloft, on his chair, sur- 
rounded by the fans and ensigns of the Papal See, and 
crowned with the triple tiara, indicative of his triple sove- 
reignty — over heaven, earth, and hell. After he is set down, 
his tiara is removed by a deacon ; he prays shortly, opposite 
the holy sacrament, and then takes his seat on the epistle side 
of the altar ; then each Cardinal, in turn, approaches him, and 
does him homage, by kissing his hand ; and next, in the order 
of their respective ranks, bishops, priests, and deacons, follow 
on, with their salutations. After this ceremony, he is clothed 



128 THE LAXD OF THE CESAR AXD THE DOGE. 

with liis mitre, and his sandals are put on by the hereditary 
Prince of the office. The entire ceremony proceeds with due 
solemnity and splendor ; books are blessed, high mass is per- 
formed by the Pope in person, and every act increases in 
interest, until the procession to the altar. Every function is 
indicative of deep meaning ; every action is significant and 
progressive, and the worshipper is borne along with the tide 
of ceremonial, and excited with intense sympathy, until this 
point, where he is elevated aloft, as the supreme head of the 
Church — a symbol of the resurrection of our Lord — at the 
happy moment when he came from the tomb, and, leading cap- 
tivity captive, rose triumphant over death. 

'No less affecting was the office of the Pope's Communion ; 
nor less touching, the kiss of peace, or the giving of fellow- 
ship. 

Passing over the frequent changes of vestment, all of which 
are replete with philosophical intent, and full of charms, that 
have a power over the imagination, by which to enchain the 
souls of the believer, we found all the duties of mass had been 
performed, and the offices concluded. 

Soon after, the Pope was borne out on the shoulders of his 
attendants, and the chair was carried, under canopy of flabellas 
and flags, into the middle of the principal nave. The proces- 
sion then halted, in order that his Holiness might witness the 
exhibition of the sacred relics. Again the procession moves 
onward, and its march is toward the southern corner of the 
church ; and, by a stairway in that part, the Pope ascended 
to the gallery, in front of St. Peter's, in order to bless his 
people. 

Kow everybody rushes eagerly to the square. The whole 
piazza of St. Peter's is alive with a sea of living heads, and 



THE POPE IN STATE. 129 



its fountains of current life beat no less vividly and gayly than 
those of the waters at the basins in front. All heads are now 
turned upward, with eager gaze and strain, and the murmurs 
of this ocean of living numbers was superlatively grand and 
vronderful. The Pope appears now, at the window of the 
balcony in front. Universal silence prevailed, as the venera- 
ble father called down blessings upon the assembled multi- 
tude, and besought Heaven to bestow its benediction upon his 
beloved people. 

The scene is soon changed — and whilst the Cardinal Dean 
felicitates the Pope, Pio jSTono, on the recurrence of the festi- 
val, the military bands strike up their responsive salutations, 
the bells of Rome proclaim the joyful sound to the surrounding 
cities, and booming cannon of St. Angelo send forth reverbe- 
rating echoes, which scarcely permit the gratulating chimes of 
the bells to be heard, as they mingle in celebrating the tidings 
of the glorious resurrection at Easter. 

THE ILLUMINATION. 
XI. 

. In the afternoon of that day, we attended the Episcopal 
Service, at the English Chapel outside the walls — which 
afforded a marked contrast to the ceremonies of the Romish 
Church, but no less appealing to the heart. I do not believe 
any one will be much affected by the pageants of glorious Rome, 
if he has no inclination towards Komanism. We had but to 
be at the Papal See, to prize more highly the simplicity of the 
Episcopal form of worship. The nearer one gets to Rome, 
the less apt is one to be influenced by the superstitious rites 
of the Roman Catholic Church. 



130 THE LAXJ OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE, 

The effect of the illumination of the whole facade and dome, 
in the evening, was superlatively grand. Its huge cupola, 
suspended so gracefully in the air, was like another firmament 
of night, studded with brilliant stars. The dark dome of the 
church was thrown in bold relief ; the chiaro ohscuro of the 
cupola was grand, and it appeared as if the whole mass of its 
vast pile was clad with the blackest lustre of rich velvets, 
studded with crowns of gold. At eight o'clock, the entire 
scene changed, as if by magic — the whole edifice and the por- 
ticoes were lighted up with a flood of brilliant light — an appa- 
rition of flame covered all the temple, and ten thousand 
torches cast their lurid glare into the midst of the sky, 
appearing, from the Pincian Hill, like a huge pyramid of fire. 

THE VATICAN. 
XII. 

The Tatican represents the religious grandeur of Modern 
Rome, as the Capitol did the martial and triumphant great- 
ness of Ancient Kome, But this palace, once noted for its 
eleven hundred rooms — the pontificial court, long so pom- 
pous — is now all sunplicity and moderation, the Pope's expen- 
diture barely exceeding that of a President, The Tatican no 
logger thunders ; in our days it is nothing more than the 
most extensive of museums, and a curious monument of the 
architectural talent of Bramante, Raphael, San Gallo, Pirro 
Ligorio, Eontana, Carlo Maderno, and Bernini. 

The grand stairway is one of Bernini's cleverest and most 
magical constructions — (there are eight principal and about 
two hundred small staircases) — and the great frescoes of the 
Salia regia, representing glorious actions in the history of the 



THE VATICAN. 131 



Popes ; among which, the massacre of St. Bartholemew's Eve 
is conspicuous, which was planned at Rome, and exulted over, 
when approved, in full consistory, by Gregory XIII, form a 
fit entrance to the Chapel of the Sixtine. 



The Sixtine Chapel was ordered by Sixtus lY., a Pontiff 
little acquainted with painting, but who felt and loved the 
glory that the arts can give. The Last Judgment was a sub- 
ject singularly suited to the vast and daring genius of Michael 
Angelo, his skill in drawing, and his cleverness in fore-shorten- 
ing. It appears that the artist spontaneously turned his at- 
tention to this subject, and Pope Paul III., having heard of 
the studies he had made, visited him, attended by ten Cardi- 
nals, to advise him to treat that subject, and almost to entreat 
him — an honor, which stands alone in the annals of painting, 
and manifests the great importance, and consideration of the 
artist ! But besides the grandeur of the style, and the inspi- 
ration of Dante, the spectator feels that this awful fresco, 
begun after the sack of Rome, is impressed with the desola- 
tion of the time, and the sombre melancholy of the painter. 
The elect appear almost as furious as the damned. This sub- 
lime fresco of the Sixtine, which has suffered from age, hu- 
midity, neglect, and the explosion of the powder magazine of 
St. Angelo, in lt9t, narrowly escaped destruction under 
Paul IV., on account of the nudities inseparable from the sub- 
ject ; and Michael Angelo has represented, under the sem- 
blance of Midas with ass's ears, Messer Biagio, master of 
ceremonies to the Pope, who had stupidly denounced them. 
Michael Angelo's answer to the person who informed him of 
the Pope's vandal determination, was severe — " Tell the 



132 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

Pope that is but a trifle, and Diay be easily remedied ; let him 
correct the world, and I will instantly correct my picture." 

Daniel of Yolterra, Michael Angelo's greatest pupil, under- 
took to veil the damned, a ridiculous operation, that procured 
for him the nick-name of Brachet-tone (breeches-maker,) and 
drew on him the piquant verses of Salvator Rosa : — 

" There never was mistake so brutal, or so great, 
As when Dafiiele, tailor-like, did undertake 
To sit in judgment o'er his master's pate !" 

"How many persons will my work prove to be bunglers?" 
the immortal author was heard to say, as he thought of the 
wretched imitators which this great master-piece would pro- 
duce. Raphael alone contrived to escape this danger, and to 
profit by the beauties of Michael Angelo, 

At the age of sixty-seven, and in the space of seventy months 
from the year 1507, Michael Angelo had executed, with as- 
sistance, the compartments of the immense roof of the Sixtine, 
paintings as highly finished as the Last Judg^nmnt^ represent- 
ing divers subjects, from the Old Testament, with a host of 
prophets, sibyls, patriarchs, and other academic figures. 

The Eternal Father, in the Creation of the World, has been 
revived with marvelous originality; there is nothing to be seen 
but his immense head, and his hands in a little space, as if to 
show that God is all intellect and power. The Eve has that 
native grace which could belong to none but the first woman, 
and which contrasts with the force and terror of the other 
paintings, and the grotesque figures of the compartments. 
The prophets and sibyls, the finest in the world, seem inspired. 
The Isaiah called to by an angel, is turning slowly towards 
him, so profound is his meditation. 



MUSIC OF THE SIXTIXE. 133 

I attended the services of the Sixtiiie Chapel, a sight ren- 
dered imposing by the jDresence of the Pope and Cardinals. 
The aspect of this Christian Senate shows the power, majesty, 
and independence of the Church, an imperishable Society 
which subdued the ancient world, civilized the modern, and 
would fall short of its destiny in opposing the enlightenment 
and improvement of the human race. 

The music of the Sixtme, formerly the admiration of artists, 
seems like that of St. Peter's, to be near its end. All the mu- 
sical power of the Chapel is now included in Allegri's Miserere, 
executed by two choirs without an instrument, during Passion 
Week. It was formerly forbidden to copy under pain of ex- 
communication, but Mozart made himself completely master 
of it after two hearings 

The two frescoes of St. Peter's Crucifixion, and the Ccnver- 
sion of St. Paul, in the PauUne Chapel — the last paintings of 
the extraordinary Michael Angelo — are very inferior to those 
of the Sixtine, and almost obscured by the smoke of the ta- 
pers burnt round the Holy Se^julchre during Passion Week. 

What a power of invention ! What terror, even in the 
imagination of this great artist ! How frightfully horrible are 
the contortions of the old Cardinal's face, as his body is writh- 
ing in the folds of the e^iormous serpent in the fresco of the 
" Inferno'" ! 

Raphael's loggia. 

XIV. 

Raphael, the prince of the Roman school, like the mag- 
nates of the East, or the feudal lords of the Middle Ages, 
seems never to have entered the Yatican, without a train 
of fifty painters, vassals of his genius, who were attracted 



134 THE LAND OF THE CAESAR AND THE DOGE. 

towards him, by the charms of his character. It is, therefore, 
probable that some of the compartments of the Loggia were 
executed by his pupils under his guidance. What must have 
been the effect, in their primitive freshness of the brilliant 
stuccoes and arabesques of Giovanni d'Undina, that skillful 
painter of flowers, fruits and ornaments of every kind, is 
proved by the incident of the Pope's groom, who, running to 
fetch a carpet for his master's use, was deceived by the imita- 
tion, and snatched at one of the little carpets of the Loggia. 

The arabesques of the Seasons^ the Ages of Life^ figured by 
the Fates, are real pictures, fall of poetry. The most admi- 
rable of the Frescoes, known by the appellation of Ra;phaeVs 
Bible, is God Dividing the Light from the Darkness, by the 
great master himself. He executed four different figures of 
the Eternal Father — but, all sublime. The Creation of the 
Sun and Moon is also of rare beauty. 

The Deluge, by Guilio Romano, is most powerful, and pa- 
thetic in expression. The Three Angels appearing to Abraham 
have a kind of oriental grace in their forms. The composition 
of Lot and his Daughters is perfect. The four subjects from 
the History of Joseph possess a rich and vigorous coloring. 
The Moses Rescued from the Water shows freshness of tone, in 
the tints of the color of the Nile. The Judgment of Solomon 
is distinct, precise, and eloquent in the Pantomine of the 
Mothers. In a Last Supper, which appears to be by Ra- 
phael, the colors are better, and it is more scientifically exe- 
cuted, as it is the last division. 

Those by Raphael have an air of grandeur and design, 
which show that he must have benefited from his clandestine 
visits to the Sixtine, and that an inspection of Angelo's fres- 
coes had determined an important revolution in his talent. 



PAGAN INSCRIPTIONS. 135 



CORRIDOR OF THE INSCRIPTIONS. 



XV. 



" Caesare magna fuit, nunc Roma est maxima : Sextus 
Eegnat Alexander ; ille vii% iste Deus." 

This well-turned and curiously servile and blasphemous 
distich, reminding you immediately of the Borgia apartment 
once occupied by the infamous Alexander YI., is proper 
to precede the long lapidarian gallery of the Pagan inscrip- 
tions occupying the right wall, and the Christian monuments 
which take up the whole of the left of the corridors, running 
through to the entrance of the Vatican Library. These stone 
manuscripts are the delights of the learned and artiquarians, 
while the Christian monuments furnish abundant subjects for 
the interest of the curious in those symbols of the faith, such 
as the vine, dove, fishes, anchor, &c., which were removed from 
the ancient cemeteries or catacombs. 

The Pagan inscriptions are arranged, according to rank and 
condition, from divinities down to slave ; but, with the excep- 
tion of the consular, no such aristocracy reigns in the order of 
the Christian monuments. 

THE VATICAN LIBRARY. 
XVI. 

The first beginning of the Yatican dates from the time of 
St. Hilary, who collected together some few hundred manu- 
scripts in his palace of St. John, in Laterano, in 465. It was 
afterwards transferred to the Yatican by Mcholas Y., en- 
riched by the liberality of SixtusIY, and enlarged to the size of 
the present spacious edifice by the menaces and pertinacity 



136 THE LAND OF THE C-ESAR AND THE DOGE. 

of the fifth Pope, Sixtus, who succeeded in getting it built in 
one year ; but he seems to have paid more attention to the 
decoration of the building than to the increase of the books. 

The collections of manuscripts and books were materially 
augmented by the efforts of Leo X., that admirable Pope, who 
was not less serviceable to letters than to art, and not less 
zealous than his successors Adrian YI. and Clement III., who 
were indifferent to its advancement. 

Amid all its successive accessions, by gift or the additions 
of the libraries of distinguished nobles, it is somewhat curious 
that its most precious contents have been the proceeds of pil- 
lage. It now contains over 100,000 volumes and 25,000 
manuscripts. Much more has been expended on the external 
adornment of the shelves, cases and ceilings, than on the 
books ; and, while walking through its vast extent of four 
hundred paces, you see nothing but richly gilded and decorated 
cupboards, behind which the imagination pictures a precious 
array of curious books and priceless manuscripts. Such is the 
mystery of its book-cases, that you would hardly suspect what 
literary treasures it contains. It was formerly necessary to 
have the autograph of a Pope, on penalty of excommuni- 
cation, before you could take a single volume out, without 
permission of his Holiness ; and we believe, that now they tear 
out whole pages of old books, if they breathe anything of the 
spirit or history of liberty. 

MUSEUMS OF THE VATICAN. 
XVII. 

Hardly sixty years ago, the Museum of the Vatican, now 
the largest and richest in the world, was beo:un in a court and 



OLD AGE OF PAINTERS. 13 1 

a garden. One cannot but admire the zeal of the pontiffs and 
the fecundity of the soil which has produced so many chefs- 
d^oBuvre in so short a time. In Pliny's day, there were as 
many statues as inhabitants in Rome, and over 1 0,0 00 have 
been exhumed up to the present time. 

How numerous must the edifices have been, how glorious 
the splendor of the Eternal City, when peopled with this mul- 
titude of figures, uninjured and new, within the porches of 
their sumptuous buildings ! 

The vast Chiaramonti Museum, the beginning of the won- 
ders of " rediviva Roma^^ was created by Pius YII. and 
arranged by Canova. The most distinguishable amongst tliis 
collection of the statues were, the beautifully-elegant Minerva, 
surnamed by Canova " The Apollo of the draped figures" ; the 
colossal Nile, noble and poetic, with the sixteen little figures, 
emblems of the sixteen cubits necessary to inundate Egypt ; a 
graceful Ganymedes ; a Demosthenes, whose stuttering is seen 
and heard in the motion of the lips ; a pretty little Venus 
Anadyomem; and a superb Antinous, under the form of Yer- 
tumnus. 

These were but a few of the great number of known and 
unknown personages, whose physiognomies often differed from 
thek fame, and like apparitions rose, in this resurrection of 
antiquity, to stand within this hall,— 

" Or, turning to tlie Vatican, go see 
Laocoon's torture, dignifying pain ; 
Or view the lord of the unerring bow, 
The god of life, and poesy, and light." 

The two thousand statues bought by Pius YL, who aug- 
mented the former collections of Clement XIII. and XIY., have 
given a name and celebrity to the Museum Pio-Clementino. 



138 THE LAND OF THE CAESAR AXD THE DOGE. 

XVIII. 

One of the most admirable subjects of this collection, was 
a beautiful bust of the youthful Augustus — one of the most 
perfect and interesting faces ever expressed in marble — of 
great simplicity and nobleness of mien — ^loeariug a striking 
resemblance to the features and head of young ]S"apoleon. 

There is true freshness in the sublime torso of Ajpollonius — 
one of the best pieces of sculpture in the Yatican, and ap- 
parently one of the latest master-pieces among the Greeks, 
before the loss of liberty. Michael Angelo said he was a 
pupil of the torso, although Winckleman complains of its want 
of anatomical perfection, and compares its back to a series of 
muscular hills. There is a true love of art shown in the tra- 
dition, that the greatest of painters, Angelo, when blind, in 
his old age, had to feel the torso with his hand — such was the 
passion for antiquity that existed among the artists of that 
epoch. 

Under the portico of the court, and in separate little cabi- 
nets, connected by doors with each other, stood the celebrated 
Mdeager — a statue of great hardness and formality ; but it 
rather shows the care with which the ancients executed ani- 
mals, for the boar's head is perfect. The Perseus of Canova, 
stood in a cabinet-chamber, adjoining the ignoble statues of 
his wrestlers, Damoxenes and Creugas ; and, in its turn, the 
Mercury, usually called the Antinous of the Vatican, is perfect 
in grace, vigor, and effect. 

XIX. 

All deem, with Pliny, the Laocoon the sublimest perform- 
ance known. Laocoon and his sons, though sacrificing at the 
altar in the Temple of Minerva, are quite naked ; and yet, on 



THE APOLLO BELVIDERE. 139 

beholding this isolated ideal representation of suffering hu- 
manity — this spectacle of terror and pity, excited by the 
anguish of the father and his children — the eye does not miss 
the robes of the high priest, or the fillets of Laocoon, so much 
is truth superior to reality, and so completely does the imagi- 
nation pass over the latter to contemplate the former. This 
soul-stirring group is terrible to look upon. There is a force, 
however, in the agony of the sufferers, which causes any one 
to shudder with a chill of intense sympathy, and your nerves 
are unstrung to sadness at the sight of 

" A father's love and mortal's agony 
With an immortal patience blending ; vain 
The struggle ; vain against the coiling strain 
And gripe, and deepening of the dragon's grasp, 
The old man's clench ; the long envenom'd chain 
Rivets the living links ; the enormous asp 
Enforces pang on pang, and stifles gasp on gasp." 

— Childe Harold, clx. 

XX. 

In the last cabinet, under the portico of the Pio-Clementino, 
behold that statue which enchants the world — the Apollo! 
There is a beam of inspiration in the shape of its noble head. 
" A transparent glow of genius, almost akin to divinity, trans- 
cends the cold form of the marble, which seemed self-luminous, 
as if the light of the exulting springs of love were struggling 
for issue toward the glorious beams of heaven." Byron has 
truly depicted it with thoughts that breathe, even like the god 
of the bow : — 

" The sun in human limbs array 'd, and brow 
All radiant from his triumph in the fight ; 
The shaft has just been shot — the arrow bright 



140 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

With an immortal's vengeance ; in his eye 
And nostrils beautiful disdain, and might 
And majesty flash their full lightnings Iby, 
Developing in that one glance, the Deity." 

— Childe Harold, clxi. 

Poetry alone can frame proper language for tlie illustration 
of a poetical idea. Winckleman, in his celebrated and em- 
phatic description of Apollo, deems it the sublimest of antique 
statues ; his countryman, Mengs, with more exaggerated 
praise, declares it to be the only complete example of the 
sublime. We alone wonder that its position in the Baths of 
Nero had not excited generous emotions in the breast of that 
monster-tyrant. The group of the Laocoon was found in the 
hot-baths of Titus ; they might have been properly displaced. 
The shuddering anger of the conqueror of Python, does not 
impair his divine beauty — " which, if made by human hands, 
is not of human thought." 

XXI. 

The Hall of Animals, a museum of beasts, and a menagerie 
of art, succeeds to the cabinet's statues of the court. It is a 
further proof of the wonderful skill of the ancients in repre- 
senting the brute creation, and in imparting to them a peculiar 
kind of beauty. A Stag, of colored alabaster, a Tiger, a 
Lion, in yellow breccia, a great Lien, in higio, a GriffiM, of 
flowered alabaster, are worthy of notice, and show an adapta- 
tion of material to their various subjects. The emperor Covi- 
mod'iLS, on horseback, throwing a javelin, stands prominent 
among the beasts of tliis gallery, before you enter that of the 
statues ; in the front of this second hall a fine Caligula is pre- 
sented, and a superb Amazon, drawing the bow; besides a Venus^ 



HALL OF THE MUSES. 141 



with a vase, supposed to be a copy of the Vemcs of Praxitiles, 
and the forsaken Ariadne, long called Cleopatra — a noble com- 
position, which had almost given a reputation for dignity to 
the frivolous and voluptuous Egyptian, the real Armida of an- 
tiquity, and somewhat like the Lola Montes of modern, times. 
The celebrated statue of Jupiter, seated in the last chamber 
of the beasts, claims notice for its tranquillity — with his 
sceptre and thunderbolt in his hands, and the eagle at his feet. 
The cabinet of delle Maschere — so called from the magnificent 
pavement of the masks, taken from Adrian's villa — contains a 
graceful Ganymedes and the eagle, the Venus ready to bathe, 
the basso-relievo of Adrian^ s Apotheosis, and a Diana, 

XXII. 

In the Hall of the Muses, where Melpomene's is the finest, 
there is an extremely interesting collection of the portraits of 
distinguished philosophers : — A Hermes of Sophocles, very rare ; 
the orator ^schines, unique ; an inferior Aspasia, veiled ; a 
Hermes of Pericles, covered with a helmet, very scarce ; Alci- 
biades, and a Hermes of Sophocles. The Apollo Citharceda, 
crowned with laurels, in a long robe, singing and dancing, is 
very fine. 

The well-lighted Rotunda, possessing one of the richest and 
largest mosaics existing, has a magnificent bowl of porphyry, 
found in the Thermae of Titus ; a colossal head of Jupiter, 
and a colossal Juno, bronze. 

The door of the spacious Hall of the Greek Cross is one of 
tlie most imposing ever seen. Two colossal Sphinxes, of red 
granite, guard tlie entrance, at the head of the grand stair- 
case ; while the recumbent forms of two rivers recline at 
their feet. 



142 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

The apartment of the Biga — so named from the elegant 
antique chariot standing in the middle — leads to the long 
gallery of the Candelabras, which are very elegant in form ; 
in this there is a mosaic, representing fish, a pullet, asparagus, 
dates, &c. ; quite curious from its haying been the floor of 
a Triclinium. 

STATUES OF THE VATICAN BY TORCHLIGHT. 
XXIII. 

Notwithstanding the cortege with which the visit of the 
statues by torchlight is usually made — a cortege worldly 
enough, and but little favorable to emotion — years will not 
obliterate the impression which that visit makes upon the mind. 

By this light the colored marble glows and becomes flesh ; 
all the physiognomies of the Roman emperors are alive again ; 
they seem animated with the violent, sanguinary, or abject 
passions of those masters of the world ; and the head of Tibe- 
rius seems overloaded with his crimes. The anatomical details 
and the slightest touches of the chisel are distinctly shown by 
the reflection of the torches, which the custodi dexterously 
wave close by the outlines. This visit also affords an inte- 
resting study in an artistical point of view, as some of the 
antique master-pieces, such as the Laocoon, placed in ob- 
scure subterranean thermce, or haths, were intended to be 
viewed by this light. 

The Gregorian Museum is consecrated to Etruscan art. 
This excellent collection of the late Pope Grregory seems called 
to high archaeological destinies, and already deserves a place 
in the foremost rank of similar cabinets, for its tomhs, its 
furniture^ its jewels, and especially its bronzes and painted 



ARAZZI TAPESTRY. 143 



vases. Among the bronzes may be distinguislied a trijpod, and 
the celebrated statue of a woman found at Yulci ; among 
the vases, that of Jupiter accompanied by Mercury scaling Alc- 
mena^s loindoio, and the curious amphora of Orpheus pursued 
hy an enraged woman. 



The tapestry (Arazzi), executed at Arras, and in the towns 
of Elanders, from the cartoons of Raphael, although some- 
what faded in color, these celebrated productions faithfully 
express the broad design and style of Raphael. The most 
admirable of these compositions of the artist's best days, 
probably finished during the last two years of this life, and one 
of the first monuments of his mighty genius, are, St. Peter 
and St. John Healing the Cripple, which, under a rich portico, 
and beside the noblest figures, offer the contrast of the two 
lame beggars ; Jesus Christ giving the Keys to St. Peter ; the 
Miraculous Draught of Fishes ; St. Paul Preaching at Athens, 
reckoned the finest of the tapestries, and the Adoration of the 
Magi, so striking for the diversity of the clothes and orna- 
ments, the pomp of the Asiatic cortege, with its elephants and 
camels, and especially the contrast of such gorgeous grandeur, 
at the feet of a child, with a manger for a cradle. 

Italy no longer possesses the cartoons of this precious col- 
lection, ordered by Leo X., a part of the exquisite ornaments 
of which allude to the glory of the Medici — seven of the 
principal cartoons have passed into England, and may be seen 
in the Gallery of Hampton-court Palace. These magnificent 
draperies hang like huge curtains of goblin tapestry over the 
museum of the Yatican of Art, and fifty adorn the entrance 
to the Stanze of the Paintings. 



144 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



THE VATICAN GALLERY. 
XXV. 

*' Whom the gods love, die young," might be a consolatory 
reflection to those who lament the early death of Raphael 
Sanzio d'Urbino, whose Transfiguration will be considered 
an immortal work, as long as Art itself exists. This chef-d^ 
cBuvre of painting has been praised and admired for centuries, 
and will, with three or four others, among the same collection 
of fifty pictures, make the Gallery of the Yatican one of the 
best in the world. Raphael died in his thirty-seventh year — 
this great work was the finest decoration of his funeral ! 
What might he not have done had he lived to the old age of 
Michael Angelo, or the period of the century of Titian ! 
Perhaps Raphael had attained perfection at an earlier season, 
and in the kind ways of Providence, was withdrawn, because 
he was incapable of surpassing his last, and best, great paint- 
ing. The two-fold action of the Transfiguration, in con- 
formity with the evangelical narrative, is connected, and pro- 
ceeds simultaneously : (Matt, x.; Mark x.; Luke x.) In this 
magnificent composition, heaven, earth, and hell, contribute to 
recognize the God-man. The upper part, on the mount, is 
superb — the divinity is visible in the figure of our Lord. The 
figures of the three apostles, apart by themselves, are tremu- 
lous with a reverential fear. The group of the rest of the apos- 
tles, looking up, as if awaiting their return, presents a scene full 
of pathos, whilst the contrast of the female kneeling, and the 
demoniac, foaming at her side, is strikingly grand in its design 
and conception. After the sublime accomplishment of that 
painting, it was a privilege for genius to die — in his glory. 



Raphael's stanze. 145 



The Communion of St. Jerome, the best painting at Rome, 
after the Transfiguration, is admirable for the unity and design 
of its composition, and the truth and simplicity of the figures. 
In the celestial expression of resignation, given to the Saint, 
Domenichino displays the immense moral power which the 
arts have, and which the genius of eloquence or poetry cannot 
always attain. 

St. Rornauld and his Disciples, has long been regarded as 
one of the four paintings of Rome, and the Madonna di Fo- 
ligno — one of Raphael's most bewitchmg and beautiful paint- 
ings, presents expressions of ravishing grace and shape, almost 
akin to the angelic, in the smiles of the Infant and in the meek- 
ness of the Yirgin. These four great classical master-pieces 
of the Italian school appeared to throw a brilliancy about 
their own effects, which rendered all the other paintings of the 
gallery scarcely worthy of the effort of contemplation. 

ST A N z E . 
XXVI. 

But the Stanze (chambers) of Raphael exhibit the triumph 
of painting, and nowhere else does art appear so grand, so 
varied, or so powerful. The two great paintings of the Dis- 
pute en the Holy Sacrament, or Theology, and the School of 
Athens, are his most sublime productions. 

The vast mosaic work-room, which occupies a part of the 
ancient palace of the tribunal of the Inquisition, presents a 
collection of enamels of various shades and colors, amounting 
to many thousands. This slow work in the art which Monti 
describes as — 

" L'arte che i dipinti emula e serba," 



146 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

— for it requires twenty years to complete some pictures — is a 
very tedious and painful handicraft ; and, after all, but an 
imitative, copying talent — although it may render the great 
works of painting, imperishable, by the execution of them in 
stone. It is, however, a class of manufacture peculiar to 
Rome, and indigenous to the people. Signor Barberi, whose 
grand works decorate the palaces of all Europe and America, 
resides beyond the Piazza di Spagna. His work-shop is the 
principal resort for strangers, who derive much pleasure and 
interest from the Cavalliere B., who is both a superior artist 
and a gentleman. The Gardens of the Yatican, attached to 
the Pontifical Palace, are prettily laid out in walks and 
flower-beds. The two colossal jpeacocks, and the phie-apple, 
in bronzes, were taken from Adrian's mausoleum, and now 
stand in the inner garden. We delighted to wander through 
the many- winding paths of the woods, beyond the reach of 
art, and to court the quiet of forgetfulness and seclusion 
under the shady forest-trees of the Yatican, yet within sound 
of the gushing fountains, and in view of the statues of the 
garden, which, in its centre, guarded the form of the pretty 
Casino. 

XXVII. 

The Camjpi d' oglio, (or Field of Oil,) revives whatever 
recollections may remain of the ancient Capitol of Bome. 
The approach, by a fine stairway with double balustrades, is 
guarded by two lions of black granite, near one of which 
Bienzi caused his sentences of death to be promulgated, and 
where, also, his own death took place, from the sword-thrust 
of an artisan, who feared the effects of his popular eloquence 
— a strange victim of Roman liberty, near the spot which was 
once its proudest refuge. 



CAPITOL BELL. 



14t 



The Capitoline and Palatine, the most illustrious hills in 
the world, seem almost historical monuments, exhibiting and 
uniting the double contrast of Republican and Imperial 
Kome — of freedom and servitude. The great centre of the 
Ancient City, seems to have been placed between the Forum 
and the Capitol. 

The colossal statues of Castor and Pollux leading their 
steeds, as well as the trophies ornamentuig the landing, 
are relics of her victories, and the gatherings of time, from 
the ruins of the Ancient City, The view from the top of the 
Capitol is magnificent, while you stand in the belfry — that 
being the central-point between the ancient and modern 
Capitol. Before you, in the south, the range of the Yolgian, 
Sabine and Etruscan hills, run toward the points of Frascati 
and Tivoli. The bell in the tower — a trophy taken from the 
Yiterbians, in the Middle Ages — announces, by strange con- 
trast, the death of a Pope or the beginning of Carnival. 

The view is the finest and most interesting in Rome ; and 
from this height, the immense mass of the Coliseum seems ele- 
gant and light. Time has so changed the surface of the 
soil — so ploughed the earth with the deep furrow of his 
share— that the outlines of Rome's famous seven hills are 
scarcely less distinguishable than the form of the terrible 
Tarpeian Rock, which is now barely fifty feet out of the 
ground ; that distant ridge, which parts the horizon to the 
north, is "lone Soracte's height" — the '' Gelidum Sorade" of 
Horace — not now in s7iow, but far-off, and isolated ; it looks 
as if the waves of the sea had been arrested in their progress, 
and frozen into grace. The books of antiquity are opened 
by the sight of the ancient ruins beneath your glance. The 
vast Campagna, that sea of desolation which sweeps over the 



14.8 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

sterile plains of the environing country, excites the mind to 
profound contemplation, and arouses the realms of your classic 
and extensive readings. The soul expands, as the throbbing 
heart vibrates with pulsation of earnest and active feeling ; 
and whilst the thoughts of Rome's ancient grandeur rush 
through the chambers of an awakened memory, you think, 
from the now mouldering remains of that city, over the 
various courses of her history, from the time that she ruled 
as mistress of the world, and run down through the line of 
her kings and consulates, republics and empire, to mourn with 
painful sorrow over the solemn lesson of human destiny, which 
is breathed still in the very air of that vast Campagna. 



XX VIII. 

The edifice of the Capitol Museum, is rather to the left of 
the stairway as you descend towards the city, and contains a 
fine collection of bronzes, vases, statues, and bas-reliefs. The 
chamber of the Urn owes its name to the great and pre- 
cious Sarcophagus — that attributed to Alexander Severus — 
because the subjects of its side sculptures are from scenes in 
the life of Achilles, whom that Emperor was ambitious to 
imitate. 

Beside the stairway as you pass to the landing of the first 
floor, the imperishable plan of ancient Rome is modeled into 
the side of the wall — on marble. The incomplete fragments 
of this mass on stone, are indelible and well calculated to 
preserve the image of the Eternal City. Under the vestibule 
of the corridor below, the drapery of the Diana of matchless 
grace, will not fail to surprise and please. In the chamber of 
the Vase, the bronze vase, which Mithridates presented as a 



THE DYING GLADIATOR. 149 

prize to the Gymnasium, will be proven by its Greek inscrip- 
tion. Notwithstanding the great Mosaic of Pompeii, the 
beautiful mosaic of the Pigeons is the largest and finest in the 
world. The celebrated Iliac table is valuable, in showing the 
progress of mythological ideas in the education of Roman 
youths. A pretty little statue of Camillus, a youthful minis- 
ter of the sacrifices, is full of grace and beauty. 

How fine a position, and what matchless dignity is displayed 
in the statue of Agrippina, which is so prominent among the 
many busts in the Hall of the Emperors ; where also are those 
exquisitive basso-relievos of Andromeda delivered by Perseus, and 
Endymion asleep on a rock with his Dog. 

The saloon has two amazingly well-preserved and superb 
Centaurs, and an Infant Hercules. The fine ^^intoxicated 
Faun,''^ of rosso antico, gives its name to the room in which 
it stands ; wherein are also several unobjectionable statues, 
among which the Antinous excels — so full of vigor and manly 
beauty, the most perfect of his statues, 

XXIX. 

" I see before me the Gladiator lie." 

This statue affects more vividly than all the others. The 
very restorations of Michael Angelo, only serve to carry out 
the perfection of the original, although they are matchless in 
imitation — one feels for that young barbarian, the agonies of 
his dying frame seize the mind in its terror. You fancy him 
sinking into dissolution, in the centre of the arena of the 
Amphitheatre, and can easily surround him, with all the 
pageant and pomp of a festival, and loud huzzas of the multi- 
tude, feasting its passions over the games of the Coliseum ; 



150 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

you can conjure up all the ceremonies and shouts of that gala, 
on which he was butchered to make a Roman's holiday. By- 
ron's description is fit to close the range of our thought on 
him : — 

" He heard them, but he heeded not — his eyes 
Were with his heart, and that was far away ; 
He reck'd not of the life he lost nor prize, 
But where his rude hut by the Danube lay, 
There were his young barbarians all at play, 
There was their Dacian mother — he their sire, 
Butcher'd to make a Roman holiday — 
All this rush'd with his blood." 

Oh, Byron ! thy heart was but the harp of poesy, through 
whose chords the spirit of antiquity or ruined man, could 
alone awake the eloquence of genius, to intone such praise and 
song, as such a monument had power to inspire. 

The Capitoline Yenus, coming from the bath, was equally 
delectable to be seen, in a separate chamber, by itself. It is 
the truest, the most life-like and desirable of all the Yenuses. 
Owing to the very strong light at noon-day, it was impossible 
to get such shadows on the statue as to relieve the most pro- 
minent lines of its beautiful proportions. It is best observable 
by torchlight, with the bust of Marcus Brutus and other noble 
statues in this hall. 



PALACE OF THE CONSERVATORS. 
XXX. 

From the contemplation of these statues of singular and 
unique beauty, pass over to the Palace of the Conservators 
opposite, where attention will be enlisted and drawn into ad- 



RESERVED VENUS. 151 



miration of the fine group of the Lion tearing a Horse in the 
court, the statue of B.ome Triumphant, and the eight rooms 
of the Protomoteca, which are devoted to the busts of illus- 
trious Romans, (Italians, for all the great of Italy are repre- 
sented.) 

The principal object of attraction in these halls is the 
classically celebrated bronze She-Wolf, connected with the 
early legendary history of Rome, and her foundation under 
Romulus and Remus. This wolf was celebrated by Cicero, 
both in prose and verse, in his orations on Cataline, and in his 
poem on the Consulship. The Capitoline Tablets, which con- 
tain the annual succession of the Consuls, have a valuable 
historical interest. 

The Gallery of Paintings, with the exception of Guercino's 
Sybil and his St. Petronilla, and some Titians, contains but a 
few good subjects. Some of the fine Graces, and some 
naked figures were removed thence, to add to the formation 
of a secret or reserved cabinet. None can doubt the 
baneful and pernicious tendency of making a specialty of 
thfese subjects of reserved cabinets. To the pure, all things 
are pure — ^^ Honi soit qui mat y pense" — ^is the motto under 
which all such examples of the beautiful and simple may 
be admired. There is no doubt that the purity of a refined 
taste is superior to any lascivious tendency or immoral thought. 
It is pernicious, therefore, to call attention to these subjects, 
when set apart by themselves. The lascivious idea only 
enters in with the reserved cabinet. They arise from the sup- 
pression or subjection of the pure ideal to the mere passion of 
the plastic body, like contrabands from legislation ; and when 
thus signalized to the curious, it is no less true, that what is 
nominally hid to the public is proverbially seen by every one. 



152 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

Among the numerous groups of statuary, or amid the multi- 
tude of the objects of virtu in this large collection, both the 
Yenuses of Titian and the simple figures of the Three Graces 
would pass unsuspected, or, at least, unimpassionately, by the 
real lovers of the beautiful and the true in Art. 

ANCIENT ROME. 

XXXI. 

•' Rome and her Ruins — past redemption's skill : 
Shrines of all saints, and temples of all gods, 
From Jove to Jesus — glorious ruins !" 

We shall never forget the courtesy of that worthy man, 
Signer Guillermo, who guided us during one entire day through 
the antiquities of Ancient Kome. This amiable and agreeable 
person — the ideal of an antiquary, whose life had almost been 
spent in the topography of Rome — ^unlike the scoffing philo- 
sopher of Walter Scott, was ardent and enthusiastic in the 
offices of cicerone and friend, and proved a proper and zealous 
benefactor in the discharge of his disinterested duties on this 
day. Under his charge, Travers and myself started on our 
journey, through the Past of her History ; and often, during 
our wandering had we occasion to think that we should have 
had but a poor idea of the magnificence of the ancient Ro- 
mans, had not the proffered service of our excellent guide 
caused us to forget even the hardships of a beginnings and to 
overlook the difficulties of that Pons Asinorum, or its omi- 
nous sign, flaring with the significant words, " C^est le 'premier 
pas qui coute^' — for the first step is always the most perplexing 
of all, in every new undertaking. 



COLUMNS EQUERIA. 153 



It was this learned friend who opened to our instructive 
reading the careful researches of the architect Antonini, and 
the classic volumes of Sir William Gell ; from whose works we 
were enabled to receive full information, in our progress 
through Rome and its vicinity. 

XXXII. 

Under this favorable conduct-ship, we started on our stroll 
for the day ; and, after having sipped our cup of cafe-latte 
and roll of U^pfel at the cafe, near the Custom-house, we com- 
menced our walk from the column of Antoninus, erected by the 
Senate and Roman people, to Marcus Aurelius. ?^ot far from 
this spot the prostrate form of a fallen column checked our 
advance toward the remains of some ancient equeria, where 
the circular form of a modern edifice still retains its antique 
shape. That pillar was supposed to have stood, formerly, in 
the front of the portico, which led up to these stables, where 
other relics indicated their appropriation, to reconstruct the 
foundations of the great Palace of Monte Citorio. In the 
neighborhood are the remains of the Temple of Antoninus — 
the present Custom-house — whose front, of eleven majestic 
columns of white marble, renders it one of the noblest rem- 
nants of antiquity. A few minutes' walk brought us to the 
tomb of Caiiis Bibulus, one of the monuments of the Republic. 

XXXIII. 

Passing thence, and in the direction of the Forum, we en- 
tered into the interior of the Mamertine prison — that terrible, 
ancient dungeon, formed of enormous stones, joined together 
without cement — in which there is now a chapel consecrated to 
St. Peter and St. Paul, who, by tradition, are said to have 



154 THE LAND OF THE C-ffiSAR AND THE DOGE. 

been imprisoned there. It was in this prison that Jugurtha 
died of shame and hunger, after entering it with a jest : — 
" By Hercules 1" exclaimed the African, when thrown almost 
naked into his jail, ''thermae (hot baths) are cold in Rome !" 
Thence the conspirators, with Cataline, could listen to the 
voice of Cicero accusuig them in the Temple of Concord. The 
Church of Aracoeli probably occupies the site oi the Temple 
of Jupiter Capitolinus. The Franciscan monks now worship 
within its porches, and the procession of the Santissimo ham 
bino annually starts from its magnificent stairs, which were 
taken from the Temple of Romulus ; on which occasion its 
marbles are covered with the prostrate forms of worshippers 
during the exhibition of the wooden figure of the infant, at 
the feast of the Epiphany. Between this Church and the 
Temple of Juno, on the opposite hill, was the Intermontium, 
where the modern Capitol now stands, and within its halls 
all the records of the Republic and of the Senatu Consulta were 
preserved. A walk under ground carried us through the re- 
mains of the ancient Temple of Juno, and brought us to day- 
light a little to the east of the famous Tarpeian Rock, and in 
the vicinity of the Eorum Romanum. 

XXXIV. 

Some have mistaken the three elegant columns of the Tem- 
ple of Jupiter Tonans, and charged these wrecks to Saturn, 
in which you can only trace out the plan of a foundation ; 
Yespasian's temple stands in front, and by its side, the outlines 
of the Temple of Concord, now shapeless, and of no interest, 
but from its associations. The noble and heavy arch of Sep- 
timus Severus, marks the period of the decline, at the north 
of the solitary column of the tyrant Phocus ; while far be- 



VIA SACRA. HORACE. 155 

yond, and between the Basilica Julia, and the Curia Hostilia, 
three superb Corinthian columns arise, from the remains of 
the Graecostasis. Between the Curia and the Comitium stood 
the famous fig-tree, under whose branches Romulus and Ke- 
mus were suckled by the wolf, and thus the word ruma (a 
teat) became symbolic of the empire and eternity of Rome. 

The Umbellica, or mile-post, from whence, as from a com- 
mon centre, the distances from every part of the empire, were 
reckoned, stood near the Arch of Severus. 

The foundations of the Temple of Mars, of Etruscan date, 
and the beautiful rests of the Temple of the Minerva Pallas, 
show the magnificence and arrangements of these ancient edi- 
fices, as well, in the classic models of the Temple of Antoninus 
and Faustina, as in the beautiful little shrine of Romulus and 
Remus, which still retains its bronze door and its fastenings, 
which are remarkable as specimens of ancient lock-work. 



XXXV. 

The three majestic arcades of the basalic of Constantine^ 
usually known as the remains of the Temple of Peace, stand 
on the northern side of the " Yia Sacra" ; and these, with 
the vestiges of the Temple of Yeuus and Rome, close up the 
long array of reins, which are spread over and about the 
limits of the Forum — the most illustrious spot in the universe. 
This classic ground, which once resounded with the magnifi- 
cent language of the Roman orators, has given place to the 
Campo Yaccino, or the cattle-market ; and the lowing of 
oxen is heard in those groves of the "Sacred way" where 
Horace was wont to roam, amid his pleasing reveries. The 
Rostrum was in the centre of the monuments with which the 



156 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

Forum was crowded — for free and open space for public use, 
was not deemed indispensable until modern days. 

The two basso-relievos — the best Roman works known — 
adorning the porches of the Arch of Titus, were admirably 
displayed to us, as we passed under its roof at mid-day. They 
represented Titus on a triumphal car conducted by an allego- 
rical figure of Rome and the captive Jewish soldiers, the 
table, the seven-branched candlestick, and other spoils from 
the Temple of Jerusalem. It is remarkable, that the two 
best-preserved monuments of Rome — the Coliseum, and the 
Arch of Titus — are connected with the traditions and history 
of the Christian religion. 

XXXVI. 

Soon after leaving this arch, we passed by the side of the 
Meta Sudans, where the Gladiators sponged their bodies after 
the contests of the Coliseum — near to the site of the ancient 
Palatine, once the most celebrated of the Seven Hills of Rome, 
but now presenting only a mass of irregular ruins, covered 
with scrub-oaks, laurels, and the clustering ivy. The Palace 
of the Caesars, having been severally rebuilt, and enlarged by 
the different emperors, was finally so extended in its propor- 
tions by Xero, as to reach from this Mount over to the Esqui- 
line. The Farnese Gardens at length reclaimed a portion of 
the ruins, under the skillful designs of the architect Yignola ; 
and now again, as a modern antiquity, it claims the notice of 
the passing stranger, from its contrast with the Vigna Pala- 
tina, where the neat habitation and courteous attention of an 
Englishman, Mr. Charles Mills, open to the sight one of the 
most charming views in Rome. 

The Arch of Constantine, with its magnificently-decorated 



CONVERSATION. NOONING. 151 

basso-relievos, taken from an unknown Arch of Trajan, em- 
bracing that of the Victory over the Daciaus, closed over our 
morning walk, with its appropriate inscription — " Fundatori 
quietus''^ — announcing the end of our visit to the Forum. 

Leaving the Coliseum behind us, we strolled through the 
grounds of a fine garden, which ran by the side of the Palace 
of the Caesars, to sit down under the porch of a humble inn ; 
and here at rest whilst waiting for our dish of salads and 
bread, we enjoyed the pleasui'es of the rural life and of the 
country air. Our friend Gruillermo chatted pleasantly and 
mirthfully with us, whilst the sight of ruined Rome before us, 
inspired our thoughts, as we sat in the presence of the most 
ancient of the Caesars' palaces ; and, over our lunch, we 
turned the conversation naturally enough, from the contempla- 
tion of the Emperors of Roman fame, to Napoleon himself — 
the greatest of modern conquerors. 

XXXVII. 

After dinner, we passed on towards the site of the ancient 
Circus Maximus, the scene of the old Rape of the Sabines, 
under Romulus ; the situation of this theatre, between the 
Palatine and Aventine hills, outside the gates, and the 
successive ranges of its descending terraces, very clearly 
indicated the position of these semi-circular ruins, and marked 
out the forms of the ancient seats. It was in the vicinity of 
the Imperial palace, which frowned over this arena, that 
the Emperor gave the signal to the Roman soldiers, who 
played either at their military games, or fought with wild 
beasts inside. 

Having made a digression to the beautiful little Temple of 
Yesta, situated at the foot of the Palatine, and which, from 



158 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

the discovery of the burial urns of the Yestals, must decide 
its true position between this hill and the " Curia Julia," we 
stopped to admire the elegant character of the architecture of 
this little temple, which is girt with three Corinthian columns 
of Parian marble, the most exquisite in Rome. We discussed 
the games of the Roman Amphitheatre, the varied, cruel, and 
sportive scenes of the arena, and the cry of the populace for 
"Fan et Circences P^ — "Bread and sport !" — as we sat in the 
Circus Maximus, over a bottle of self-styled " Falernian," and 
then proceeded to the Arch of Janus Quadrifrons, whose 
majestic form stands near the lesser marble Arch of ensculp- 
tured beauty, which had been dedicated to Severus by the 
Argentarii — silversmiths and salesmen. 

XXXVIII. 

'Not far distant, and in the quarter of the Yelabriura, we 
paused awhile, to consider the superb work of the Cloaca 
Magna, or " Great Roman Sewer." Pliny declares, that " it 
was a quarter of a mile in length, and that a loaded cart-full 
of hay could pass through, without moving a straw." It is 
certainly an evidence of the grandeur of Rome, under Tarquin 
and the Kings, when it was more powerful and magnificent 
than under the first republic, although Etruscan workmen 
had been employed in the construction. It is impossible to 
imagine a more noble monument of public utility, than this 
structure, formed of huge blocks of peperino, joined without 
cement, which, after twenty-three centuries, is still serviceable. 
A pretty brook of pure and wholesome water, at which the 
people go to drink in summer mornings, as a specific against 
certain maladies, falls into the Cloaca. 



BIJOUX SHRINES. BRIDGE. 159 

XXXIX. 

]S"ot far from the Bocca di Verita, " The Mouth of Truth," 
(for no liar, as the children believe, can draw his hand from the 
mouth of this mask of stone,) the beautiful little Temple of 
Pluto, miscalled that of Yesta, with its twenty Corinthian 
columns, overlook the waters of the turbid Tiber. Farther 
off, the temple of Fortuna Virilis, one of the oldest in Rome, 
was erected to the fickle goddess by Servius Tullius, whom 
she had delivered from the bonds of slavery for the chains 
of royalty. We believe its Ionic columns are the best 
specimens extant of that order. 

The celebrated Pons Suhlicius, the first bridge built by the 
Romans, witnessed the exploit of Horatius Codes, who, single- 
handed, defended it against the enemy. Livy rather doubts 
these traditions of his countrymen, imagined by the ancients, 
to console the self-pride of retreating armies. It derived its 
name, Sublicius, from the beams of which it is composed ; 
and now, under the name of " the Senatorial," is loaded with 
the plebeian features of fishermen's huts and boats, no less 
picturesque than popular in their forms. 

The view of the different ruined bridges and towers, which 
extend over the river from this point of the city, is peculiarly 
striking. On the opposite bank of the Tiber, is Etruria. At 
some distance from this bridge there is a house, that is some- 
times called that of Pilate — at other times, Rienzi's. It is 
more probable that it never harbored either of these famous 
men, and belonged rather to one Lorenzo. The outside of its 
ruined walls was covered with inscriptions and antique frag- 
ments ; for these, we are told, Rienzi had a peculiar liking. 
In his epoch, which was one of popular eruptions, caused by 
inequality and oppression, it is curious to observe that the 



160 THE LAXD OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

numerous revolutionary outbreaks were almost co-simultane- 
ous. The tribuneship of Rienzi was contemporary with the 
democratical conspiracy of the Yenetian Doge, Marino Faliero, 
and the massacres of the Jacquerie, in France. The same 
fourteenth century had seen the great riot of the Ciompi, at 
Florence, the insurrection of William Tell, the revolt of 
Artevelde, in Flanders, and of Wat Tyler and Jack Cade, 
in England. 

XL. 

The Theatre of Marcellus, of a mixed Order of the Republic 
and the Empire, would contain thirty thousand spectators. 
It was consecrated by Augustus to the young son of Octavia, 
and so happy was the distribution of this theatre, that the 
different classes of the senators, the knights, and the people, 
had separate seats, which they could enter or leave without 
meeting or interfering with each other. Its elegant columns 
served as models for the Doric and Ionic Orders, and the 
skillful disposition of the two orders, placed one over the other, 
has been often imitated. In common with all the monuments 
of Rome, it has experienced many different destinies ; and, 
having passed to the Orsini family, is now the palace of a 
modern Roman prince. 

The Portico of Octavia, which once comprised within its 
walls two temples — the ruins of which are still visible, and was 
once decorated with the most beautiful statues — (the Yenus 
of Medicis was discovered here) — now stands in the quarter 
of the fish-market. The presence of these superb fragments in 
the miserable buildings of the Strada Pescaria, (Fish-street,) 
offers no unfit simile of the traces of the ancient grandeur of 
the Roman people, through the porio.l of its decline. 



CENCI PALACE. 161 



XLI. 

No less indicative of antiquity is the Glietto, or Jews' quar- 
ter, the residence of that ancient people, amid the ruins of 
less ancient Rome. Until the present Pope, they had been 
excluded from all intercourse with Christians ; but under the 
liberality of Pius the Ninth, this crowded populace presented 
the happy spectacle of their emancipation. The walls which 
had hitherto separated them from the other inhabitants of the 
city, had but recently been thrown down, when all the gates 
were entirely removed. Such was the contempt in which they 
were held in the sixteenth century, that Paul the Fourth, com- 
pelled them to wear a yellow badge, as a distinguishing mark 
of their degradation. Although the Ghetto is the most filthy 
and confined district in Rome, such is the effect of its popu- 
lousness that it is less unhealthy and more free from maV aria 
than those sections which are further from the Tiber, and in 
the bosom of some of the finest villas. 

XLII. 

Through a narrow portal, not far from the Jew's quarter, 
we passed into the square of the Cenci Palace. This must 
have been one of the grandest old mansions in Rome, in the 
earlier times, when this quarter was very sparsedly built up. 
Whilst there, our cicerone gave us a new version of the Cenci 
legends. His story was not so poetical as that in Shelly's 
poem, of that name, but somewhat more true to history, and 
more clearly developed the character of the ambitious Paul Y,, 
through whose line, the family of the Borghese, have risen into 
notice. " It is a bloody tale," said we, as he told us of the 
avarice, and villainy, of that reigning monster ; and its recital 
would fill the mind with horror, when you listened to the 



162 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

story of her love, and her imprisonment, and of the deep plots 
which were wrought for her destruction, or of the subse- 
quent fall of her family, and the aggrandizement of the Bor- 
ghese ; for after she was beheaded on the scaffold, the line 
and honor, domains and wealth of the Cenci, passed forever 
into the heritage of the Borghese. 

" Sad, indeed, but true ! Alas ! poor Cenci !" said Gruil- 
lermo, as we turned away from the palace, and his tale — to 
seek our lodgings. 

XLIII. 

Whilst we were in the direction of our homeward return, 
and after we had taken a good look at the Yidoni Palace, the 
best authenticated and most considerable work of Raphael, 
as an architect at Rome, we did not fail to stop and gaze 
at the celebrated mutilated torso of Pasquino, whose reputa- 
tion is world-spread, and whose fame is the origin of our 
word "pasquinade." This fragment owes its name to a 
tailor, who had his shop over the spot where it was found ; 
and, doubtless, if he was as good at a quill as his own goose, 
he was not behind-hand in displaying his genius at satire, that 
faculty so peculiar to the Romans, and so cutting when it fits. 
The last joke — the piquant gibe at the governors — the ribald 
jest, or pert pun, were placarded over this stump. It was 
often-times the mouth-piece of the government itself, to divert 
public opinion, and it rather licensed the freedom of its wit. 
It now seldom exercises its severity, except on individuals, 
and still retains much of the pleasanterie of the ancient charac- 
ter of the tailor Pasquino, and his workmen. Thus from 
grave to gay, we passed a delightful day amid the remains 
of Ancient Rome ; and many happy hours, beguiled by 



THE TORSO, 163 



the joyous mirth of our friend, and the excitement of active 
walking, were sweetly spent between the Forum and the 
Torso. 

THE CHURCHES. 
XLIV. 

Rome has not only a Saint, but a Church, for each day in 
the year. Whether you begin at St. Peter's, in which all the 
glories of the churches are united; or the Pantheon, the "pride 
of Ancient Rome," representing, by its present modern use for 
worship, the conversion of heathenism to Christianity, which 
has overspread the world since its day, or terminate with the 
humble little shrine of Santa Maria della Transportina, occu- 
pying the place where Romulus is said to have been interred, 
there is, in each, some feature worthy of peculiar notice and 
attraction, and every one has some charm of art, some legend 
of antiquity or tradition of miraculous wonder, to either ele- 
vate the thoughts, instruct the mind, or adorn the fancy with 
images of beauty, wonderment and speculation. " Amid these 
relics of nobler days and noblest arts !" the Pantheon of 
Agrippa stands. "Despoiled, yet perfect, and to art a 
model," not only as the most elegant edifice of Ancient Rome, 
and the best preserved of its antique remains, but, at the 
present moment, the finest monument of Modern Rome. The 
simple and noble portico, with its superb columns of Egyptian 
marble, displays the prodigious knowledge of statics in its 
Greek and Roman architects. The majestic interior retains 
most of its antique lining of precious marble. This admirable 
work of eighteen centuries has not been conquered by time, 
but has suffered from men who have torn away from the 
roof the ornaments of silver and ffilt bronze, which the ancients 



164 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

adopted in the " vast and wondrous domt^ Raphael, " the 
immortal," lies interred in the Pantheon — the temple of all 
the gods. 

XLV. 

How inferior to the gloomy, desolate and ruined aspect 
presented by the Coliseum, in the approach from ^NTaples, and 
how poor an entrance to Rome from the north, is the rambling 
piazza of the Porta del Populo, with its pitiful statues, obe- 
lisks and sphinxes. According to a popular tradition, as old 
as the close of the eleventh century, a large tree once stood 
near this porta, (or gate,) on which a raven used constantly 
to perch. The omen led to digging up the earth at the foot 
of the tree, and an urn was found with an inscription, stating 
it to contain the ashes of Nero. They were scattered to 
the winds ; but on the spot where the urn was discovered, 
Pope Pascal 11. founded the Church of Santa Maria del 
Populo. 

It has several fine chapels, and is rich in paintings. The 
choir has a superb ceiling, by Pinturicchio, and the Chapel 
of the Virgin is very finished and aerial. Behind the altar 
are the beautiful painted windows of Claude and Guillaume, 
French stainers ; remarkable as being the only painted win- 
dows in Rome, and v/hich, after three centuries, retain all 
their pristine beauty of color. The Ghigi Chapel, one of the 
most renowned in Rome, derives its interest from the belief 
that the four cartoons of the ceiling were designed by Ra- 
phael, and the Jonas^ an imitation of Antinous, enjoys the 
celebrity of his fame. 



"GEZU." PORTUGUESE. " THE WIND." 165 

XL VI. 

It has been well said, that rainy days are excellent for 
enjoying picture-galleries and libraries. We took advantage 
of them in visiting the churches of Rome ; and on one oc- 
casion found ourselves at the pretty little Church of St. Anto- 
nini dellcu Portuguese, which is remarkable, only, for its exqui- 
site marbles and the beautiful simplicity of its chaste designs. 
It was in striking contrast with the Church of the Gezu, 
the professed house of the Jesuits, in which, the too ornate 
decoration of the roof and its travertine portal, are not in 
keeping with its pure and elegant disposition. There is always 
a strong breeze blowing near this church, owing to the elevation 
of the Capitoline Hill, and the direction of the streets. The 
Roman populace tell a story of the Devil walking one day 
with the wind, and when he reached this church, he said to 
his companion, '* I have something to do, in here ; wait for me 
a moment." The devil never came out, and the wind is still 
waiting for him at the door. The sumptuous Chapel of St. 
Ignatius, though singularly formal, has a globe of lajpis lazuli, 
the largest in the world, and the richest altar, under which is 
the tomb of the saint. 

The Church of St. Peter, in Viiiculo, which was built to 
receive the chain that had bound the apostle in the prison of 
Jerusalem, is no less celebrated by the presence of Michael 
Angelo's great statue of Moses. The haughty expression of 
countenance given him by the artist, little characterized him, 
who was the meekest man of his day. At some little distance, 
the features partake of great power and majesty of mien. Its 
anatomical details are strikingly correct and beautiful, al- 
though, like all of his works, somewhat exaggerated. The 
drapery of the figure is by no means pleasing, but open to 



166 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

much censure, and the beard is enormous. The whole statue 
has more of the bold air and proud attitude of a haughty pon- 
tiff, than that of a Hebrew legislator ; and it has been truly 
observed that '' the body seems to wear a flannel waist- 
coat ; and the kind of pantaloons with gaiters which cover 
the thighs and long legs, are scarcely in character for a 
Moses." 

XLVII. 

The fine Church of St. Louis of the French, was founded 
by Catherine de Medecis. Its paintings and tombs make it 
very interesting. A good copy of Raphael's St. Cecilia is by 
Guido, and the brilliant frescoes of the ceiling, by Domeni- 
chino ; a fine painting of the Virgin, in the Sacristy, passes 
for the work of Corregio. 

The French tombs of St. Louis have a different character, 
and present some touching contrasts in the tomb of d'Ossat, 
the son of a shoeing-smith, afterwards ambassador, and one of 
the most elegant of French writers ; that of d'Agincourt 
attests a pure and philosophic life, passed in the bosom of 
Kome, in devotion to art and antiquity ; and the sarcophagus 
of Cardinal de La Grange d'Arquien, father-in-law of the 
great Sobieski, who died at the age of a hundred and five 
years — the oldest cardinal known — would have something 
patriarchal about it were it not for the indecent revelations of 
St. Simon, respecting the unbecoming life of this prelate : — 
" Homme d' esprit, de honne comjpagnie, fait cardinal a quatre- 
vingtdeux ans, gaillard, qui eut des desmoiselles fort au dela de at 
age, qui ne dit jamais son breviaire, et qui s'en vantait.'' 



JIT. CELIO. IMPERIA, 16^ 



XLYIII. 

Four Sibyls, by Raphael, are the glory of the Church of 
Santa Maria della Pace. The old Sibyl to the right, and the 
one seated with her head turned to the left, are admirable, 
and sufficient to give an idea of the force and beauty of the 
original work, despite all the injuries and retouchings that 
have been inflicted upon the Church. Michael Angelo valued 
each head worth of itself one hundred crowns. The vast 
Church of St. Andrew ddla Valle, is remarkable for its good 
paintings, and the Choir of Lanfrauco : the four pendentives 
of Domenichino, of broad and easy execution, are in that 
master's loftiest style. The Strozzi Chapel, of Michael An- 
gelo's architecture, has his Piety, in bronze. 

XLIX. 

St. Gregory sul monte Celio, which was built on the site of 
the monastery founded by the Patriarch Gregory, is served by 
the Camadulite Monks. This church derives its celebrity 
from the rival frescoes of Domenichino and Guido, in the 
Chapel of St. Andrew's. The Scourging of the Saint, by the 
former, is a chef-d'-OBuvre for elevation, force of designs, and ex- 
pression, and beauty of composition ; the flogger, with his 
back turned towards the beholder, is admirably drawn. The 
fresco of Guido — St. Andrew adoring the Cross before his Mar- 
tyrdom — ^licher and more vigorous in coloring than Domeni- 
chinos's, is after all inferior. 

The Concert of Angels, in the roof of the gallery of the 
Chapel of St. Silvia, is by Guido. At the bottom of the 
Chapel of St. Andrew's is the statue of St. Gi-egory, sitting, 
which was rough-hewn with genius by Michael Angelo, and 
finished by his pupil, called Franciosino. It was at San 



168 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

Grregory that the celebrated Koman courtesan Imperia — the 
Aspasia of the age of Leo X. — obtained the honor of a public 
monument, and strange epitaph : — 

^^ Im'perea cortisana Romana, quce digna tanto nomine, rara 
inter homines former specimen dedit," 6fc. 

Both monument and inscription were defaced, not from a 
sense of decency, but through inadvertency, during certain 
repairs. The existence of Imperia, and the kind of dignity of 
a Koman courtesan, are features characteristic of the pagan 
manners of the literati at the revival. Imperia was sung by 
her learned friends, in Latin and Italian verse. Bandalo 
relates, such was the luxury of her apartments, that the 
Ambassador of Spain repeated the insolence of Diogenes, by 
spitting in the face of a servant, saying, he could find no other 
place for it. It appears that she was no less accomplished 
than Bavaria's favorite, and cultivated in music and in tongues. 
There is an amusing story told of an old Roman parasite, 
Titus Tamisius, who sent his valet to the market to ascertain 
where the best fish went to. Being informed that the head 
of an iLmhra (turbot) was sent to one of the Conservators — 
according to an usage as old Juvenal — then presented to two 
Cardinals, and to the Banker Ghigi, he followed it with much 
fatigue and anxiety, until* it went at last to Imperia, to whom 
Ghigi sent it, crowned with flowers in a gold dish, and with 
whom the impudent Tamisius succeeded in dining. 

The view of the ruins of the Caesars' palace is wonderfully 
picturesque, from the Gallery of the Chapel of St. Silvia, in 
the " Church of St. Gregory sul Monte Cellio." 



PRIMITIVE BASILICS. 169 



L. 

The ancient church, Santa Maria, in Dominica, called 
Dellcb Navicdla, from a little vessel put in the front by Leo 
X., was cleverly renovated on Raphael's designs. 

The numerous paintings in the Church of St. Stephen, II 
Rotundo, an antique edifice, converted into a church about 
the fifth century, representing the different martyrdoms of 
saints, bad enough, are the most hideous and complete col- 
lection of executions that can be imagined. 

LI. 

Michael Angelo was in his eighty-eighth year when he drew 
the design of the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, over 
the principal hall of Diocletian's vast Thermse. The Greek 
cross, which was taken as the plan of this edifice, shows how 
grand would have been the effect at St. Peter's, if the plan 
of Michael Angelo had been followed. Eight colossal 
columns of granite, left in the original position, and buried at 
their base by the architect, on account of the humidity of 
the soil which he was obliged to raise, support this spacious 
hall. The whole aspect of this church was more pleasing and 
striking than any other that I had seen in Rome. 

LII. 

The antique Church of St. Clement, presents the best 
preserved model of the disposition of the first basilics. It 
retains the double pulpit, for the public reading of the Epistle 
and the Gospel. The Bishop's chair was in the middle of the 
seats in the consistory behind the altar. The different compart- 
ments of the aisles show that the number of female worshippers 
was greater than that of the males, from the larger space 



110 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

allotted to the former sex, as they also indicated the various 
grades. The Church was then a militant body, which had 
its degrees of advancement, and virtue alone produced the 
distance. It is no unreasonable supposition, that in the centre 
of the atrium, formerly stood the fountain in which the pagans 
purified themselves — probably the origin of the Christian holy- 
water-vase. The unconverted were not allowed to enter the 
inner temple, but remained standing outside, waiting for the 
efficacy of the prayers of the faithful inside, to be transformed 
into new creatures. 

How simply-grand were the arrangements of the primitive 
Christians ! Some traces of this early religious equality seem 
perpetuated at Rome, in the practices of the public services. 
Everybody kneels on the bare pavements of the temples, and 
we see nothing of the devotional comforts of our parish 
churches, in pews or cushions, kneeling-benches or stalls, to 
mark a distinction of rank. 

The foundation of St. Clement's, with all its antiquity, is 
not so old as the fifth century. 

LIII. 

On beholding the rebuilding of St. Paul's extra muros, we 
could not but regret that such enormous expenditure should 
have been made so far from the city, in the midst of an un- 
healthy and infected plain; especially where the edifice, with 
all its magnificence, contributes nothing to the ornament of 
Rome, and will be but an imperfect substitute for the former 
venerable basalic, which was founded by Constantine ; neither 
in respect to art and picturesque effect, is the restoration 
desirable. With its crumbling vaults, forest of columns 
calcined by fire, and vast gaping walls, invested with the 



ALABASTER FOR COLUMNS. Itl 

mantling ivy, with which nature delights to deck her ruins, 
it might have become an object to be admired, and have been 
taken for the ruins of an ancient highway. 

The funds, for the re-construction of this church over the 
bodies of St. Paul and Peter, have been collected throughout 
Europe. The old transept in front, has some of the mosaics 
which escaped the fire of 1823. The cloister of St. Paul, 
finished in 1815, is very remarkable. Four hundred small 
columns, of a spiral form, and of different shapes, ornamented 
with mosaics, as well as the entablature, support the portico. 
The new entrance to the basilic is on a magnificent plan ; the 
middle aisle is supported on either side by double rows of 
stately Corinthian columns, and the dome of the consistory 
and bishop's chair will be upheld by the four splendid columns 
of Egyptian alabaster, which were presented to the basilic, 
by Mahomet Ali, the Pacha. By slow ascent up an irregular 
stair-way, we mounted nearly up to the roof, and walked across 
the platform of the staging, where the work of stuccoing and 
gilding medallions, was in full activity. The workmen seem 
like a vast population in mid-air, and at such a giddy height, 
we sighed for a firmer footing. We descended, to enter our 
carriage, and on oui* return to Rome, thought of no temple 
else : — 

" But thou, of temples old, or altars new, 
Standing alone — with nothing like to thee." 

ROMAN PALACES. 
LIV. 

The imposing and severe aspect of the Roman palaces, has a 
selfish and forbidding look. They seem stern and repulsive. 



1T2 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

and possess not the public architecture of the Romans, with 
its forums, thermae, and amphitheatre, made for the multitude ; 
but they are the vast and gloomy residences of their masters, 
who are often, not only proud and poor imitators of feudal 
lords, but foreigners to the interests, and excluded from the 
business and life of their fellow-men. This aspect of a 
Roman palace offers the most fantastical contrasts ; its 
barred windows give it the air of a prison — grass grows in 
the court, at the bottom of which may be seen a heavy coach, 
the only trace of modern magnificence to be found there. 
The marble stair is so badly cleaned, that it seems black, or 
brown, and its columns are arrayed with cobwebs. On the 
first floor, always very high, one sees in the antechamber, a 
lofty canopy, covered with the master's arms — a privilege pe- 
culiar to the princes and the four Roman marquises, who are 
called, on that account, canojpied marquises ; and on the balus- 
trade of this monument of vanity, hang the meanest house- 
hold instruments ; but amid all these abominations, the ceiling 
is often a vast picture, the work of some great master. 
The servants, many in number, are dirty and dilatory ; the 
custode, a self-important domestic, whose office is to explain the 
paintings, in which he sometimes succeeds very well, so natural 
is a taste for the arts to Italians, leads you into other apart- 
ments where the same contrasts are repeated ; the floor, if not 
of mosaic, is of badly-jointed bricks ; the door-posts are mar- 
ble, and in the saloon, beside the most admirable paintings, 
columns of lapis lazuli, or vert antique, the furniture is paltry, 
a little old time-piece, huge arm-chairs that seem as if fixed in 
their places and not to have been moved for centuries, and a 
little narrow sofa. Such is not the social saloon of France, 
with its simple, elegant, convenient furniture, arranged for 



TASTE.— FLOWERS. CORSO. 113 

conversation, with its piano, harp, books, flowers, and album, 
and which one need but cross to feel the charms of the life led 
there. This palace saloon never has a flower, and a sight of 
a rose in the apartments would make all the Roman ladies fall 
into hysterics. A fine anemone was one day shown to one of 
them, and she exclaimed with delight, " E tanto jpiu hella die 
non puzza niente'^ — " It is all the finer for not stinking." This 
word, puzzare, is generally used to designate the perfume of 
flowers. The antipathy of the modern Romans to flowers, is 
surprising, when we recollect the profuse and frequent use of 
them by their ancestors. Instead of the merry blazing chim- 
ney fire, there is nothing to be seen in the palace-room but the 
dull and unhealthy brazier. In fine, this majestic abode, the 
monument of vanished glory, pretty much in keeping, however, 
with the gravity of the pontifical government, seems as if 
made to be visited rather than inhabited ; there one neither 
feels the sweetness of a home, nor the splendor and pleasures 
of the world, and the transeuntibus may be applied to it, in a 
different sense, as well as to the Chartreuse ; at least, so says 
Yalery, and we have ever found him to be good authority, 
in all matters of taste. 

The Eternal Cor so is lined with palaces and shops — that 
famous street which comprises the minor trades of Rome and 
the ennui and vanities of her great, who go there every day 
to show them, at different hours, according to the season. 
The CoRso is favorable to the opinion which esteems popula- 
tion a means of salubrity, for the air of this trading street 
passes for the purest in the town, while the beautiful and 
solitary villas are infected. 



Hi THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

LV. 

We think with certain scientific experimenters, that the 
MaVariah effects have been somewhat exaggerated at Rome ; 
for it is as easy to counteract it with hygieine and the use of 
flannel, as the ancient Roman did. This air has always been 
considered good for old men, and been proved so by many 
who have breathed it, to a good old age. 

In the midst of her decline, Rome still retains some traces 
of splendor, which belong to her alone. The pavement of 
the streets is still of blocks of basalt ; and, as we walk over 
the slabs of lava with which the Corso is paved, let us look 
into one of the palaces which is worthy of mention in its 
line — i. e., that of the Ruspoli. 

The architecture of this palace is both judicious and pure 
in its style. Its celebrated stairway of one hundred and 
twenty steps of white marble, each of a single block, passes 
for the finest in Rome. 

As the whole of the ground-floor of this building is occupied 
by a cafe and restaurant, we find it proper to mention here, 
that the coffee-houses of Rome, under an absolute govern- 
ment, are almost, as the vent-holes and safety-valves of 
opinion, the same as our journals and opposition. Whatever is 
printed abroad, in Paris or Vienna, is spoken there, at the Cafe 
Ruspoli. The nervous and rude sarcasm of the frequenters, 
their violent censures of tlie Roman court and the acts of 
the government, sometimes even on the part of its agents, 
may give a tolerable idea of what the unrestricted liberty of 
the press would be among them. 

Every coffee-house has its distinctive character, and, as 
we say of a journal, its color. The Cafe Greco and the 
Lepre are the rendezvous of artists — French, Italian, German, 



GALLERIES AND VIRTU. 115 

and American — where they smoke and speak aloud, with 
freedom and candor, of the new works and the different repu- 
tations. The coffee-house of Monte-citorio, called de^Bah- 
bione, or Cafe Old Papas, or Old Quidnuncs, is frequented by 
professors and men of learning. The antiquarians resorted to 
the coffee-house of the Trevi Fountain, where peasants came, 
afresh from the fields, with their newly-found relics. In these 
various companies, no less than in the Ruspoli, the scandal of 
the day is warmly discussed ; for the Romans of to-day are 
neither less curious nor less eager after news than their 
predecessors, in the days of Horace and Juvenal. 

LVI. 

The vast and naked Colonna Palace dates from the illus- 
trious Martin Y. (Colonna.) The gallery is one of the first 
in Rome, and contained, among other celebrated paintings, 
the Eurojpa by Albano, a Holy Family by Andrea del Sarto, 
and one or two good landscapes. As you are entering the 
grand gallery, the extraordinary and wonderful elaboration 
of two huge armoises claims your regard, from their exqui- 
site carvings in ivory, one of which is covered with basso- 
relievos, showing in its centre a depiction of the figures in the 
Universal Judgment of Michael Angelo. 

The grand hall of this palace was beautifully decorated 
with frescoes, representing the victory of Colonna over the 
Turks. Prom this hall you pass out into a garden worthy 
of the palace, and there see two fine fragments of a well-exe- 
cuted antique frontispiece, which were supposed to have once 
adorned the Temple of the Sun. 

Before proceeding to the Quirinal, we were led to visit the 
celebrated Cabinet of Virtu, known as that of the " Cam- 



176 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

pagna Museum," and were well repaid in looking over this 
collection of relics of every age and art, from the Etruscan to 
the Chinese. The assemblage of paintings and vases were of 
the same style as those at Naples, but inferior in extent. 
The display of bracelets and rich gold ornaments, for the 
adorning of the ladies, were more perfect than even that of 
the Ethnological Society of Denmark. 

LVII. 

The piazza of Monte Cavallo, on the summit of the Quiri- 
nal, agreeably situated, ornamented with handsome edifices and 
a charming fountain,, is more particularly embellished by its 
superb colosses of Castor and Pollux, which, however perfect 
as chefs-d' muvre of the Greek school, were neither by Phidias 
nor Praxiteles. Canova never wearied of admiring the noble 
simplicity, artless grandeur, and ana.tomical precision of these 
statues, and he shrewdly observed the vicious restoration of 
the two groups ; the horse and esquire must have been origin- 
ally placed almost facing, and on the same line, in order to 
preserve unity of disposition. The study of these colosses 
prepares the mind for an entrance into the pontifical palace 
of the Quirinal, which ofi'ers little of attractive art to admire, 
except in the stucco of a v/ainscot, representing Alexander at 
Balylon, by Thorwaldsen, Here the extensive gardens of the 
palace stretch their delightful shades over the circumference 
of a mile — where its broad paths, ornamental statues, cooling 
fountains and umbrageous walks, overhung with thick foliage 
of shade and forest-trees, create a delicious retreat from the 
vapors and heats of the town. While there, the vast Raspig- 
lioso Palace called us to admire the Aurora of Guido, which 
is preserved on the ceiling of a small temple in the garden. 



PALACE OF THE HARP. BARBARIANS. ItT 

It is one of the most perfect works of that great master, and 
is likely to retain the freshness of its tones, if left unmolested 
by the retouchings of meddlers. 



In the direction of the picturesque little port of Ripetta, 
and with an extent surpassing that of the P'itti at Florence, 
the front of the immense Borghese palace stretches its 
length, in the form of a harpsichord, and is thence known by 
the name of // Cembalo di Borghese. The gallery, the richest 
in Rome, and kept in the best order, has seventeen hundred 
paintings. Among this collection, the following should claim 
particular notice : — the Descent from the Cross, by Garofolo, 
which has some figures of extraordinary power ; the two 
portraits of Ccesar Borgia and Michiavel — the action and the 
thought of the fifteenth century — are from the hand of Ra- 
phael, and indicate no less his genius than that touching 
master-piece of his twenty-third year, Christ deposited in the 
To?nh, so full of grace and pure in design. Here is also the 
often-copied Diana^s Chase, by Domenichino, of more than his 
usual delicacy of touch, and his Citmcean Sibyl, inferior to Guer- 
cino's Persica, although, perhaps, more expressive and in- 
spired. Dawj^e, by Corregio, as superb in flesh as the excel- 
lent copy of Fornarina, which hangs beyond, another of 
Guil'.o Romano's, and many others ; — were these not enough 
to claim for this gallery a rank superior to all the other paint- 
ings in Rome, except the unrivaled four of the Vatican ! 



" Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini," or '' what 
the barbarians left undone, the Barberini (family) did," 



1T8 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

towards the destruction of the Coliseum, by the removal of 
its stones for the building of their palace, has caused this 
pun on the name of the Barberini to be a common saying 
at Rome. 

The Barberini Palace occupies the site of the Circus of 
Flora, once noted for the abominable feasts celebrated there 
at night, by torchlight, in honor of a deified courtesan, who 
had bequeathed the wealth acquired by her debaucheries, to 
the Koman people, then unworthy of such an heritage. The 
rigid Cato, unwilling to interrupt the public pleasures, thought 
proper to retire from these games, which they dare not, out 
of their respect for his virtue, begin in his presence ; and the 
wags of Rome wittily asserted, that he came for the sole pur- 
pose of going away. 

The Fountain of the Triton in the Court, with but a scanty 
supply of water, is the clever composition of Bernini, the 
architect, who also finished and adorned the magnificent front 
of the palace. Its fine winding-stair is not less ingenious than 
the ensemble is majestic. Some few of its sculptures and 
paintings give it a high rank in Rome. The celebrated 
Sleeping Fau7i is gone to Munich. A Lion, an antique 
basso-relievo, adorning the principal staircase, is superb. 
The ceiling of the hall of the upper apartment is adorned 
by an immense fresco, of a fantastical, half-pagan, half- 
Christian allegory, representing the Triumph of Glory, 
which was painted in honor of the Barberini, and is 
considered one of the master-pieces of the architect and 
painter, Pietro di Cortona. The Gallery of Paintings has 
five Titians, in the hall of portraits ; an authenticated 
Piety, of Michael Angelo ; a sweet Virgin and Infant 
Jesus, by the accurate Andrea del Sarto ; Albert Durer's 



CENCI. — FORNARINA. 1T9 



Christ DispiUing with the Doctors; and the Martyrdom 
of St. Catharine, which bears all the energy of Cara- 
vaggio. 

LX. 

But the valued gem of the lower apartment is Guidons 
Cenci — beautiful beyond expression — and a touching picture, 
which speaks its own story, of a devoted Roman matron, 
who preserved her virtue, even to the sundering of all the ties 
of filial affection, rather than yield her honor. The pathetic 
head of La Cenci, dressed with elegance and coquetry, is sup- 
posed to be the work of Guido's early youth, and to have 
been made from memory, after he had seen the heroine mount 
the scaffold, where she addressed the executioner, who was 
binding her hands, in these forcible Koman words — " Tu leghi 
il corpo al supplicio, e sciogli Vanima al Vimmortalita'^ — ''You 
bind my body to destroy it, but you loosen my soul for im- 
mortality." La Cenci was the true type of an Italian maiden, 
and the head of Guido has wonderfully expressed this ardent, 
tender, and simple character. The prison of the La Cenci 
is still shown in the ancient Tor di Nona, now become the 
Theatre of Apollo, the property of Torlonia ; but the legend 
of her martyrdom is worthy of a Roman daughter, and 
of a place in history next to that of Virginia. 

The portrait of La Petite Boulangere, the baker's daughter, 
or La Fornarina, the beloved of Raphael, hangs in the same 
cabinet, and under the Cenci. This copy, which has been 
ascribed to Guilio Romano, from the blackness of the shades, 
shows a head which, at first sight, is little attractive, and 
requires some attention to seize all its beauty ; and which, 
notwithstanding the difference of costume and head-dress. 



180 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGK 

must have been taken from the same model as the Fornarina 
of the Tribune of Florence, far superior in coloring. 

The Barberini Library possesses about 60,000 volumes, 
and some precious manuscripts, among which are the valuable 
autographs of Petrarch and Tasso. The notes of the latter, 
and the hand-writing of his father, Bernardo Tasso, on the 
pages of the Latin version of Marsiho Ficino's edition of 
Plato, show to what an extent the beautiful language and 
poetic dreams of the Grreek philosopher were studied and 
meditated in this family. 

LXI. 

When the workmen were digging out the ground for the 
foundation of the Sciarra Palace, many beautiful objects of 
antiquity were discovered, which, independent of the fixtures 
of the gallery, would render it one of the most delightful 
places of resort in the city. The most important paintings 
are two grand and vigorous subjects, by Valentino — i. e., The 
Beheading of St. John whose dark prison-ground in keeping, 
scarcely permits any clearness in the shadows ; and the Rotm 
Triwni'phant, remarkable for the trunk and head of the Tiber. 
What a galaxy of fine Art is assembled in one room, where 
you will find upon the walls the Young Musician, called' // 
Suonatore, by Raphael — the collar of the young man's coat 
is so exquisitely finished that the fur seems alive ; the 
Gamesters, by Caravaggio ; the Modesty and Vanity of Leo- 
nardo da Yinci ; two Magdalens, by Guido ; and a family, by 
Titian ; — any one of which compositions would give celebrity 
to any palace in the world. 



GHIGI, THE BANKER. 181 



LXII. 

Nearly all the paintings in the immense Doria Palace are 
excellent. The edifice itself is one of the finest in Rome. 
Its three different sides were added by various architects, at 
successive periods, and, what is singularly rare at Rome, has 
the evidences of its being well kept and sustained. It has a 
Holy Family by Raphael, several fine landscapes by Poussin 
and Salvator Rosa, an excellent Madonna by Murillo, the 
celebrated Misers by Albert Durer, the two finest landscapes 
by Claude Lorraine, (one of which is the famous scene of 
the Mill,) Abraham's Sacrifice by Titian, the Country Wedding 
by Teniers, and the beautiful portrait of the second Queen 
Griovanni of Naples, by Leonardo da Vinci. We pass over 
the Grhigi Palace, with its rich library, because it has but a 
few paintings, and these in a neglected condition, and the 
many remarkable works of the Corsini Palace and Library, to 
the Farnesina, which was ornamented by Raphael and his 
school. This dilapidated monument of the splendor of art in 
the sixteenth century was built by the Roman banker Ghigi, 
who wished to receive Leo X. there, and perpetuate his own 
reputation as a man of taste. This Ghigi was the Moecenas 
of modern times, who, on one occasion, when he feasted at 
a banquet the fourteen cardinals and all the ambassadors 
of Christendom, fed them from gold plates, which, after 
they were taken from the table, were thrown into the Tiber. 

LXIII. 

There is much beauty in the decorations and paintings of 
the Farnesina. 

The fresh and vigorous triangle of the Three Graces of the 
FaUe of Psyche, passes for the work of Raphael. Ghigi on 



182 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

being informed that he often interrupted his labors to pay a 
hasty visit to Fornarina, paid him the attention to invite her 
to his house, to save the artist's time. The flying Mercury, 
seen face-wise, is life-like, serial ; the group of the Apotheosis 
of Psyche, full of grace ; and Jupiter, embracing the son of 
Yenus, presents a mixture of majesty at once naive, familiar, 
and sublime. The Council, the Banquet of the Gods, are mag- 
nificent inspirations from Homer ; notwithstanding the re- 
touchings of this rich decoration, the general effect has gained 
thereby, as the ground is now of a deeper blue. The poetical 
fresco of Galatea, is by Raphael. It was in the Farnesina 
that Michael Angelo drew a colossal head in charcoal, and 
left it as his visiting-card, to advise his pupil Daniello of his 
arrival, one day, when he was awaiting for him in the hall 
below. The paintings of the ceiling, representing Diana on a 
Car, and the History of Medusa, produce such an illusion, 
that Titian himself took them for ornaments in relievo, and 
wished to have a ladder brought that he might touch them, 
a wonderful effect which these paintings still display. 

LXIV. 

The Lante Yilla, a pretty Casino on the Janiculum — one 
of the spots affording the finest view of Rome — is a master- 
piece of Julio Romano's talent in painting and architecture. 
But, as we found it impossible to gain an entrance, in order to 
see the eight womens' heads of the bathing-room, which are 
reputed to be the portraits of Raphael's mistresses, we con- 
tented ourselves in another source of inspiration, drawn from 
the stump of ''Tasso's Oak," which had been blown down in 
the storm of 1842. As we came from the garden where the 
tree was planted, we entered into the church and convent of 



183 



St. Onuphrius, which are immortalized by the death and tomb 
of Tasso. There are some precious relics of this poet in the 
library, besides his inkstand. A bust which is shown, taken 
;post mortem, beams with the evidences of mortality upon its 
lines. There is also a Madonna of Corregio, in the corridor of 
the convent. A monument is slowly arising for the bard of 
the Gerusalemme; kings and emperors have subscribed, but 
we doubt whether this pompous and cold mausoleum will pro- 
duce the profound impression of the little slab of marble, pro- 
visionally placed there by the monks, whose brief inscription 
began with the words, " Torquati Tassi ossa." The latter 
brought before us the last moments of this great man, and 
recalled the religious asylum that his ardent piety had chosen. 
I love to believe in the glory of the old oak — it stands in a 
magnificent point of view, and seems to have deserved the 
honor of affording Tasso the hospitable shelter of its boughs, 
when alive, and to fitly mark the spot of his consecrated tomb. 

LXV. 

We have done justice to the poet, and now we seek with 
pleasure to recall the Farnesina, in order to yield our tribute to 
the Poet of Painters, Raphael. Notwithstanding the common 
opinion, Raphael did not die from excessive debaucheries. It 
seems certain, from a recent contemporary authority, that, 
being obliged to hasten suddenly from the Farnesina to the 
Vatican, he reached it quite breathless, and stopped in the 
great hall to discuss the works of St. Peter's, and he there 
caught cold. Soon after his return home he was attacked by 
a fever, and died from no other cause than this sudden chill — 

'* Resquiescat in pace" — 



]84 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

with the Yidoni Palace, the best authenticated, and his most 
considerable work as an architect, at Rome. 

We closed our visits to the Palaces with the Spada, which 
is situated in a remote quarter of the town, and possesses a 
gallery, that without being first in rank, has some excellent 
paintings and a few statues. The David with GoliaKs Head^ 
by Guercino ; a Roman Charity, by Annabale Carracio, tell- 
ing the tale of the old man and his nursing daughter^ 

" Which, has not thy story's purity," 

and a Dido, by Guercino, complete the choicest of the pic- 
tures. The rooms below contam the celebrated antique sculp- 
ture of Aristotle, and the best-preserved basso-relievos of Rome. 
The colossal naked statue of Fompey, at whose feet Caesar fell 
by Brutus' dagger, though somewhat doubtful, was the last 
object seen, as we left the Spada. Thus ended our loiterings 
among the Palaces of the Eternal City. 

THE VILLAS. 
LXVI. 

Those abodes of splendor, the villas, which are outside the 
walls of the city, are the link that unites the ancient Roman, 
and the modern. The present palaces differ from those of 
antiquity ; the villas of our days are a close approximation to 
the antique, and in their principal parts they almost resemble 
their majestic disposition. The national taste for the same 
magnificence is perpetuated, notwithstanding the contrast be- 
tween the two states of society. The houses of pleasure, or 
summer resorts, are generally turned towards Rome, a superb 
liorizon, in harmony with the pomp of thc-'w nrchiteotnro, and 



HIPPODROME ASCENT. 185 



the marble statues, columns, vases and fountains, which em- 
bellish them. The gardens, planted with a noble regularity 
so far superior to the zig-zag of the English style, do not dis- 
play the capricious pretension to create sites, which are found 
without, already made by nature, but they are destined for 
the promenade of powerful friends of art, who seek, in their 
repose, to contemplate its chefs-d^-mtvre. Though too fre- 
quently deserted, and suffered to decay, the Roman villas have 
not lost their original character, and their gloom even seems 
to increase their grandeur, 

AVe have already spoken of the beautiful Lante villa, and 
of its pretty casino and fine view over Rome, with its charming 
frescoes on the Janiculum. 

LXVII. 

We hardly know where to begin, amid these resorts of 
pleasure which abound in the vicinity of Rome, except it be 
at that one of the places most dear to the Roman people, and 
so often frequented in our walks, the Borghese villa ; which 
attests the magnificence of that family, and was so much em- 
bellished by the last prince, Camillo. On a fine afternoon we 
strolled out there, to witness the ascent of a balloon. The 
scene presented on that occasion was extremely interesting, 
and the various groups of happy people in parti-colored cos- 
tumes, scattered about the circle of the hijpjpodrome, afforded 
us many subjects for study and remark. The brilliant light 
of the evening sun threw the forms of the numerous pines, in 
bold relief, against the bright blue of its Italian sky, and thus 
heightened its happy effects upon the lake, the model hippo- 
drome, the temple, and the foliage of the various shade-trees, 
as well as amons: its laurel bowers, which are so well known 



186 THE LAND OP THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

and admired. The ascent was graceful, and perfectly success- 
ful was the flight of the aBronaut, until lost to the sight of all 
beholders. At another time we sought its shady walks and 
embowered arbors, after we had visited the celebrated Museum 
which was purchased for the French, under the empire, for 
14,000,000 francs, as Napoleon told Canova, 

The Casino has many fine busts and statues, and each room 
is appropriately named after some peculiar works of art it con- 
tains ; for the decorations of the walls and ceiling are in ex- 
cellent taste and keeping with the chief object, from which the 
apartment is named. Under the portico, a half-colossal torso 
of Apollo Bending the Bow, is exquisite, and another torso 
of an emperor's statue seated — very natural. The basso-relievo 
of Romulus and Remus, suckled hy the Wolf, found near the 
Tiber — an excellent work, and among the best of Roman 
productions — is curious as a monument of the origin of Kome. 
The immense and magnificent Saloon has a good head of Ves- 
pasian, a colossal head of Isis, with the lotus^^ow^er, and a 
statue of Diana. In the Hall of Ceres, the famous basso- 
relievo of the education of Telapkus, a work of Adrian's time, 
which, for delicacy of execution, seems a large cameo ; and a 
torso of a young man holding a vase, perhaps a Ganymedes, 
remarkable for the choiceness of the marble. The fine statue 
of Hercules, in the hall of that name, is adjusted like the Far- 
nese Hercules. The great and curious-colored mosaic, called 
the Borghese, represents a combat of gladiators against wild 
beasts. It was attributed to Greek artists, and is in the first 
rank of mosaics, for size. The little and plain Nelli villa, near 
the Borghese, was possessed by Raphael. 



VILLA BELRESPIRO. 18t 



LXVIII. 

The Medici villa, which once possessed the Yenus, and other 
antique master-pieces of the Florence Gallery, and was the 
prison of Galileo during his trial, is now the Academy of 
France. The position of this villa, with its vast gardens and 
admirable view, presenting on one side a complete prospect 
of Rome, St. Peter's, and the Vatican ; and on the other, the 
solitude and pines of the Borghese villa, should inspire the 
artists in this charming abode which they have chosen. 

The Pincian, the ancient CoUis Hortorum— so called from 
the Gardens of Sallust, Lucullus, and Domitian — ^has again 
become worthy of its first name, since the creation of its public 
promenade, the only one in Rome. How admirable, also, is 
the view of the Aventine on Mount Coelius, from the villa 
Mattel, the property of the prince of peace ! 

We obtained the favor of visiting the impenetrable Ludovisi 
villa, from the Prince Piombino ; but, as it was impossible to 
be there on the day appointed, (Thursday,) for a sight of the 
excellent collection of sculptures in the picturesquely-embowered 
casino, we can only say, that the ceiling of the Aurora, by 
Guercino, is considered his chef-d^ceuvre. Guido's fresco in the 
Ruspiglioso, has possibly more majesty ; but that is superior 
in movement, picturesque, and color. 

XLIX. 

Of all the villas of Rome, that of the Pamfili-Doria, or 
Belrespiro, (its poetical Italian surname,) with its wood of um- 
brella-shaped pines — charming trees — that harmonize as well 
with the sky of the country as they afford a shade, and leave 
the light ; its view extending to the sea ; its verdant turf 
enamelled with aneraonies ; its grottoes, basins, cascades, and 



188 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

antique fragments, is the most diversified, extensive, and de- 
lightful. The several ceilings of the casino are ornamented 
with stuccoes, in extreme taste and elegance. The ill-begotten 
wealth of the celebrated Olimpia Pamfili alone taints the 
fairness of this beautiful resort. 

Some few years since, excavations at the villa led to the 
discovery of several well preserved Colwjiharia and certain 
curious inscriptions, which are interesting for the history of the 
funeral usages and monuments of the ancients, and form a 
little antique cemetery, very picturesquely disposed in the 
middle of a wood. 

]Sr ot far from this villa, and on the declivity of Mount Mario, 
the presence of a vast quantity of marine shells offer conclusive 
proof of the geological fact of a long inundation, at an eleva- 
tion of 440 feet above the level of the sea. At the extremity 
of the Janiculum, the Madama villa, although in a delapi- 
dated condition, has become, from the designs of Raphael 
within it, a kind of modern antiquity unceasingly studied and ad- 
mired by the artists. The view from its summit, embraces the 
abundant waters of the Pauline fountain gushing at your feet, 
and extends from the Janiculum, beyond, to the distant pyra- 
midical monument of Cains Sextus. From this superior posi- 
tion, one is struck with the discrepancy between the monu- 
ments of Roman grandeur and the most admired modern 
edifices — the former are less distinguished for their ruins than 
their majesty ; and besMe the gigantic masses of the Temple 
of Peace, the Coliseum, and the dome of the Pantheon, the 
Barberini and Farnese palaces, and even St. Peter's itself, 
look diminutive. 



ARTIFICIAL RUINS. 189 



LXX. 

The Albani villa, a magnificent creation of Cardinal Ales- 
sandro — somewhat pompously styled the Adrian of his times — 
displays the judicious taste of his friend Winckelman, in the 
decorations and details of the Casino. The grounds, though 
prettily laid out, appeared in a neglected condition. The 
basso-relievos and a few statues of the best style of Grecian 
art, justly claim for this villa a rank, only, the third in Rome. 
What marks the contrast of Torlonia's palacinizzo's exe- 
crable taste, but a servile attempt in this banker prince, to 
imitate the grandeur of ancient Rome, by constructive tem- 
ples, ruins, arches and cascades. The place was so full of 
fantastical whimsicalities and absurdities, that it seemed to us 
the greatest natural curiosity in the vicinity of Rome. Oh, 
CofkriAv Romano ! — 

'* Qudm quod ridiculos homines f ant P"" 
(How very ridiculous it makes them !) 

— Juvenal III. Sat. 135. 

THE FOUNTAIN OF EGERIA. 
LXXI. 

On a beautiful afternoon, Oliver, with the gentle Terry, our 
artist friend at Rome, and Clarence, visited the classic ground 
of Egeria, in the Aracinian Grove, where this Goddess was 
worshipped. Passing through the Arch of Drusus, and by 
the side of the conduit made by Caracalla over the arch, 
which is still visible, as well as part of the aqueduct intended 
for his baths, we arrived at the fountain about an hour 
before sunset. The situation of the valley is lovely enough ; 



190 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

but the fount has lost much of its original beauty, from the 
desecration of its purity by the hand of man. The Fountain, 
a part of the temple, was still there ; and a beautiful grove of 
Ilexes, through whose leafy bowers we obtained a charming 
view, extending over the Campagna to Frascate and the 
range of the Sabine hills, beyond, which were tinged, at 
that sweet hour of evening, with the purple tones of an 
Italian landscape. 

LXXII. 

Here we indulged an hour in pleasant reverie, and recalled 
the images of the past, whilst the inspiration of the place 
and scene of the " Sacred Grove^^ invoked the form of Xuma. 
It was here that the Roman Solon, in order the more strongly 
to recommend his laws and instil into his people a reverence 
for religion, persuaded them that he made nightly appoint- 
ments with the goddess Egeria, (whom Juvenal calls his 
nocturnal mistress, as if describing an intrigue,) and, from 
her mouth received the whole form of his government. In 
the grove where we were, anciently stood a temple sacred 
to the Muses, and to this goddess, whose fountain watered 
the grove ; for it is fabled that she wept herself into a foun- 
tain, from grief, at the death of Xuma, her lover. 

The site of the vale of Egeria seems authentic ; but if the 
name be sweet, and the mysterious tradition touching, the 
place is moist and ugly enough. A mutilated statue of a 
young man, reclined like a river, may be seen at the extre- 
mity of the ancient Nymphea, which some persons have 
been disposed to put in place of the ancient fountain, although 
only a construction of Vespasian's time. 

The marble statue recalls the verses of Juvenal, who re- 



AURORA OF THE FOUNTAIN. 191 

gretted that the Fountain of Egeria was no longer in its 
natural state : — 

" In vallem Egerios discendimus et speluncas 
Dissimiles veris. Quanto prsestantius esset 
Numen aquae, viridi si margine clauderet undas 
Herba, nee ingenuum violarent marmora toplium ?" 

—Juvenal III. Sat. 16-20. 

How unlike natural caves, as now being profaned with arti- 
ficial ornaments and robbed of their natural simplicity ; and 
how much more pure and poetical would have been the legend 
of the fountain, if, instead of having the water inclosed 
with marble and other ornaments, it were adorned with its 
statural border of never-dying grass and rude sand-stone, 
(tophum !) 

LXXIII. 

We have faith in this goddess, whom Numa loved. It 
seems in perfect keeping with the manners and religion of the 
Romans, and we could love Egeria with Byron : — 

" Egeria ! sweet creation of some heart 

Which found no resting-place so fair 
As thine ideal breast ; whate'er thou art 

Or wert — a young Aurora of the air, 
The nympholepsy of some fond despair ; 

Or, it might be, a beauty of the earth, 
Who found a more than common votary there 

Too much adoring ; Ty-hatsoe'er thy birth 
Thou wert a beautiful thought, and softly bodied forth. 

" The mosses of thy fountain still are sprinkled 
With thine Elysian water-drops ; the face 
Of thy cave-guarded spring, with years unwrinkled, 
Reflects the meek-eyed genius of the place, 



192 THE LAND OF THE CJiSAR AND THE DOGE. 

Whose green, wild margin, now no more erase 
Art's works ; nor must the delicate waters sleep. 

Prison' d in marble, bubbling from the base 
Of the cleft statue ; with a gentle leap 

The rill runs o'er, and round, fern, flowers, and ivy creep 

•' Fantastically tangled : the green hills 

Are clothed with early blossoms, through the grass 
The quick-eyed lizard rustles, and the bills 

Of summer-birds sing welcome as ye pass ; 
Flowers fresh in hue, and many in their class 

Implore the pausing step, and with their dyes 
Dance in the soft breeze, in a fairy mass ; 

The sweetness of the violet's deep blue eyes, 
Kiss'd by the breath of heaven, seems color'd by its skies 

" Here didst thou dwell, in this enchanted cover, 

Egeria ! thy all-heavenly bosom beating 
For the far footsteps of thy mortal lover ; 

The purple midnight veil'd that mystic meeting 
With her most starry canopy, and seating 

Thyself by thine adorer, what befell ? 
This cave was surely shaped out for the greeting 

Of an enamor'd goddess, and the cell 
Haunted by holy love — the earliest oracle !" 



EXCURSION AMONG THE SABINE HILLS. 



ROME TO TIYOLI. 



LXXIV. 



Our party was composed of two English ladies, an archi- 
tect, (who now resides in Boston,) Travers, and myself. As 
to the ladies, we had never been introduced to them until we 
met at the door of their lodgings, just as we were about to 
start in the vettura. The whole plan of the excursion was 
projected by Mr. S., the able artist of this prosperous journey. 
Thus we joined a party of English people, taking them for 
better or for worse, and thus suddenly thrown into each other's 
society, we remained together for a period of eight days. 

On the Monday morning, of a fine May-day, and the first 
of the month, we started off for Tivoli. The road to Tivoli, 
in some parts, follows the ancient Yia Tiburtina. After the 
tenth mile out, we passed over the large polygonal stones of 
volcanic basalt, and by the side of the stepping-stones with 
which it was bordered. About four miles out, the Anio was 
crossed, by the Ponte Mammolo — perhaps the oldest bridge in 
the environs of Rome — where the green foliage of the beeches 
on the banks forms an agreeable coup-d^-ceuil. Shortly after- 
wards, the canal and lake of Solfaterra reminded us of their 
presence by a strong sulphurous odor exuding near the remains 
of the antique Bridge of Lucano, of which nothing is left but 
the foundations in the bed of the river. This point of view is 



194 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

the original of one of Pouissin's finest landscapes. Beyond this 
we saw the noble mausoleum of the Plautia family, with its 
solid structure and brilliant cornice, rearing its tall form on 
high, before we arrived at the site of Adrian's former villa ; 
from which point we were slowly driven up the hill through 
the quinconze lines of a rich olive-grove, to Tivoli. 

LXXV. 

Tivoli — the ancient, the poetical Tibur, of Greek origin — 
existed 462 years before the foundation of Rome. Tibur 
joined the Grauls twice in their irruption into Italy ; but soon 
after the inhabitants were subdued by the Romans, and it 
became a Roman municipality. Honored by the residence of 
Horace, Catullus, Augustus, and Mecoenas, it was destroyed 
by Totila ; re-established by him as a military colony, it lost 
its ancient name, and assumed that of Tivoli, about the eighth 
century, only to suffer all the vicissitudes of Italy during the 
middle ages, and became the most important ally of Rienzi, 
when he was tribune of the Roman people a second time. 
The present Tibur is a town of about seven thousand souls, in 
a good situation, but dirty, and irregularly built, and is still 
damp, like the uduin Tihur of the poet. It has two locande, 
(the Regina and the Sibilla,) with travellers, artists, numerous 
manufactories of leather, iron, paper, and oil and powder- 
mills. Notwithstanding its trading aspect, it is impossible not 
to be struck with the strong and noble beauty, or the carriage 
and mien of the girls of the lower order. 

LXXVI. 

We started from the Sibilla to take our first look at the 
Falls, and the Temple, formerly, overlooking the cascade, prior 



TEMPLE OF THE SIBYL. 195 

to the diversion of its waters into a new channel, which has 
too artificial a character to be deemed poetical. This temple, 
said to be that of the Sibyl, and afterwards of Testa, stands 
on a point of rock above the fall of the Anio, which is preci- 
pitated into the valley with much more noise than in Horace's 
days, {praceps Anio,) and presents at once a most exquisite 
wreck of art, and one of the finest scenes in nature. The bril- 
liancy of the ten fluted Corinthian columns, and of the foam- 
ing waters, become still more resplendent by moonhght. 
"Whilst walking down the hill-side path from the banks, we 
looked into the Grottoes of the Sibyl, and caught many diver- 
sified and beautiful views of the cascades. The Cascatdhj 
interspersed and varieg^.ted with a luxurious vegetation, which 
seemed almost as if formed and arranged by art, shine in the 
sun, and produce brilliant rainbows. The best point of view 
to observe them is in a vineyard, at the bottom of the valley. 
The impression of these famous sites, painted, described, and 
sung thousands of times, must vary according to the dispo- 
sition of individuals ; their roaring noise, accompanied by the 
thumping of hammers and the clanking of machinery, .would 
not be very agreeable to the lovers of silence. Our walk ter- 
minated with a sight of the Grotto of Neptune and that of 
the Syrens, the most picturesque of the antres, into which the 
Anio falls ; the latter is a hollow and gloomy cavern, of hor- 
rid darkness — an ever-inundated cave — where the effects of 
the perspective and its blackness strikingly contrasted with its 
pleasing name, 

LXXVII. 

After dinner we all walked to the villa d'Este, a large and 
deserted country-seat, founded by Cardinal Ippolito ; the 
magical disposition of the grounds is said to have suggested 



196 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE, 

to Tasso, the idea of the Palace of Armida. It is a splendid 
ruin, and the only monument of modern magnificence at Tivoli. 

One may judge from the remains of its cascades and traces 
of the garden, of the vastness and elegance of its primitive 
character. The two principal fountains are as fine as any 
that can be cited, and Michael Angelo surnamed that ddh 
Ovato (of the oval), the Queen of Fountains. "We were 
heartily amused at the whimsical and capricious inventions of 
the garden. The little model of Rome in plaster, in a bower, 
and its noble monuments in miniature, were perfectly absurd 
and ridiculous. 

We remained until sunset, and enjoyed the splendid effects 
on the view which we had from the palace terrace, embracing 
in extent the immense length of the vast campagna ; including, 
within its range, the neighboring mountains, the faint outlines 
of Rome, and the purple Vv^aves of the distant Soracte. 

We had arranged with our landlord to have a ball at the 
Sibyl, and at our return to the inn, we found the hall filled 
with the town's people. The Saltarella, the popular dance of 
the country, was performed with some grace and greater 
vigor by the young men and maidens, so that this exhibition 
contributed greatly to our evening's amusement. The women 
of Tivoli have been long celebrated for theu' fine forms and 
good features, and police list of street-fights show the vol- 
canic spirit of its hardy inhabitants. 

Adrian's villa. 

LXXVIII. 

It may perhaps give one an adequate image of the emperor 
Adrian's idea of filling his villa with copies of the monuments 



VELVET LAWNS AND FLOWERS. 191 

of art or wonders of nature, that he had seen in his travels, to 
state, that the ruins of his collection now cover an extent of 
seven acres ! 

Most of the finest and renowned statues of Rome were dug 
up from this villa, and the remains of the copies of the Poecile 
of Athens, the library, palace, Prcetorian barracks, baths, 
circus, theatre, academy, and odeon, are but a few of the ex- 
tensive ruins which belong to the favorite resort of Adrian, 
and show the magnificence of his undertaking. 

A strong vegetation of cypresses, fig-trees, holm-oaks, ivy, 
and clematis, smother and destroy the ruins. An odoriferous 
flower, a kind of syringa, planted there by Adrian, is said to 
grow in no other place. How singular are the powers of na- 
ture ! The foreign monuments of the master of Rome disap- 
pear, strewing the earth with their vast ruins ; this simple 
exotic flower survives them, and continues to shed its perfume 
to this day. 

This happy mingling of verdure with masses of fallen tem- 
ples, arches, and columns, offered many admirable subjects to 
our artists. Whilst there, the whole air breathed of the fra- 
grance of sweet wild flowers, growing under the bright blue 
sky of this fair day, so as almost to remind us of the Yu'gilian 
scenes of the Elysian Fields, as we passed over the green 
pastures and velvet lawns of the Campagna of that name. 

LXXIX. 

In the afternoon of oui* second day, we walked down a road 
that led us to the valley of the Anio, in another direction, 
taking us in the neighborhood of the location of Mecsena's 
villa — now an iron foundry, moved by an arm of the river. 

As we continued on our path beside the left bank of the 



198 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

Anio, we enjoyed a beautiful succession of small water-falls, 
dashing over their mountain-beds with fury, and in white, 
foamy streamlets. Their effects were varied continually by 
our relative position to the heights, and by various combina- 
tions of light and shadow, so as to produce the happiest in- 
fluences which cascades can excite. Some of these views, and 
especially the last, obtained from our stand in the valley, at 
an immense distance below the Temple of the Sibyl, would 
have furnished happy compositions for the painter ; in fact, 
in no part of this interesting country could an artist or poet 
fail to gather materials for the improvement of his taste, the 
cultivation of his genius, or the study of a life-time — so rich, 
varied, and abundant are the brilliant and beautiful scenes 
which nature has here displayed, for the culture, admiration, 
and praises of mankind. 

Horace's sabine farms. 

LXXX. 

" Satis beatus Unicis Sabinis." 
(Happy enough among the Sahine Hills.) 

Despite the contradictions of the Abbe Chaupy, who will 
not allow more than one house to the poet Horace, we longed 
to visit the estates which made him independent, on the banks 
of the Digentia, in the country of the Sabines. Too much 
cannot be said in praise of the man who could prefer his 
humble abode on the Esquiline, the summer air of Prseneste, 
his pleasure-house villa at Tibur, or the serenity and peace, 
like the glassy surface of his own Bandusian Fountain on the 
Sabine farm, to all the splendors of affluence. 



monks' hospitality. 199 



The first part of our journey, from the Gate of San Gio- 
vanni, was highly interesting. The weather was favorable at 
the start, and the bright sunshine of a fair spring morning 
shed its gladsome light upon the scenery, adorning the valley 
of the Anio, through which we were passing. 

At but a short distance out of town, we observed traces of 
three ruined aqueducts — the Claudian, the most prominent 
among them — and, beyond the latter, under the brow of the 
famous old Madama Castle, that belonged to the Orsini 
family, a fine old feudal ruin frowned over our path, from its 
perch on the summit of an abruptly impending cliff, so as to 
command the entire valley. A little beyond the picturesque 
village of Yico Yaro, the hospitable porch of the Convent of 
St. Cossimato, opened its doors to our wearied beasts, and 
entertained our party with its legends of St. Benedict, 
whilst the kindly monks of the mansion were providing us with 
a stock of provisions and excellent wine. Here our fortunate 
weather changed with our mode of conveyance ; and very 
shortly after we had mounted our mules, the heavens opened 
upon us, in the narrow valley skirting the plain of the 
river Digentia, where a copious shower poured its floods upon 
our ill-provided persons, and causmg us to take shelter from 
the storm, drove us, in common with the peasants of the 
country, under the roof of a small Chapel of the Yirgiu, at a 
short distance from the village of Licenza. Here, while the 
peals of thunder broke over our heads, and flashes of vivid 
lightning glared over the horizon, the country people in their 
fright betook themselves to their rosaries, and prayed to the 
Madonna ; and, whilst our artists sketched the most pictu- 
resque of the women around us, Clarence fell half in love with 
a sweetly pretty girl, whose name was Rosa. So wild was the 



200 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

lurid lightning, and so heavily thundered the storm's crashing 
echoes through the dells of the valley, with a pelting rain of 
unabated fury, that we were forced to turn back and retrace 
our steps, v,athout having seen the fertile Sabine farm of Ho- 
race, or drunken of the sweet, clear waters of the Bandusian 
Fountain. We saw enough, however, to satisfy us of the good 
taste of the poet in his selection of this secluded spot, 
and were charmed with the beautiful outlines of the valley ; 
and saw — 

" AVhere yon bar 
Of girdling mountains intercepts the sight, 
The Sabine farm -was till'd — the weary bard's delight" — 

in front of the sight of the summit-crowming Licenza and the 
bold castles, which were perched on the very tops of the 
neighboring hills. The habit of locating their village on the 
crest of the isolated mountains of these regions, is a feature 
peculiar to the ranges of the Yolges and Sabine Hills. Some 
of them have interesting histories connected with the trouble- 
some conflicts of the turbulent middle ages. Our drive back 
to Tivoli was attended with more pleasant weather, as the 
storm cleared away before sunset, and we were permitted to 
enjoy the delightful views of the cheerful valley of the Anio. 

DRIVE TO SUBIACO. 
LXXXI. 

The storm was again renewed in the morning, before we 
had taken our lunch, or, could start away from Tivoli. About 
mid-day we were enabled to leave ; and having taken the 
road of yesterday, as far as the Convent of St. Cosimato, our 
course continued to follow the valley of the Anio, until it ran, 



PRETTY WOMEN. 201 



in divergence, around the base of the mountain-topped village 
of Sarracenesca, so called from the evident traces of its early 
Sarracenic inhabitants, and still celebrated for its pretty women. 
Shortly after, we passed in sight of Roviano, and lunched 
with Anticoli in view, while Miss B. took a sketch. Beyond, 
at Agosto, are the sweet springs of Sirene, and further on, 
the town of Cerbera lies in the very jaws of two impending 
crags. The sight of the distant Subiaco, on our approach, 
was truly superb and peculiar. The Palace of the Arch- 
bishop crowns the supreme point of its most elevated heights. 
It is n.ow principally visited by landscape painters, as its 
charming site, its woods, its lake, its grottoes, rocks, cascades, 
and ruined castle, render it exceedingly picturesque. We 
visited the monastic Church of St. Scholastica, whose different 
buildings announce the introduction of the Gothic style into 
Italy, and mark a period in the decline of art, no less remark- 
ably than the monastery of San Benedict, a mile beyond, whicli 
is called the Sacro Speco, and presents various ornaments, in 
a succession of chapels, cut out of the solid rock. The main 
chapel is built over the grotto, where St. Benedict, the great 
legislator of the monastic orders of the West, spent his days 
in pious practices and virtue. In the garden, a small parterre 
of roses was the field of thorns on which the Saint rolled him- 
self, as St. Francis after him, to cool the ardor of his passions. 
The evergreens outside the wall of the grotto, which were 
wont to bow to St. Benedict, when he took his walks in the 
garden, remain unmoved ever since his death. 

LXXXII. 

The greater part of our next morning was spent in ob- 
serving the picturesque costumes and occupations of the towns- 



202 THE LAXD OF THE CJISAR AND THE DOGE. 

people, and in admiring some pretty bits of art about the 
village. After messo-giorno, or the morning-lunch, we left for 
Olevano, on mules. About half-way over the mountain, our 
sumpter-mule, a beast of awkward , habits, and unmannerly 
wheezings or brayings, was most ridiculously oyerturned on 
the road, occasioning some diversion in our weary path- 
way, not far from the town of Affili. We stopped awhile at 
Rojati, the scene of an attack made on an American artist, a 
few years since, to await the subsiding of another heavy rain- 
storm ; but finding it rather doubtful, and being somewhat 
pressed for time, we hm-ried on with the ladies, and. rode all 
the way thence to Olevano, in the rain. The views among the 
rugged crags and cliffs around the base of Monte-Carpeneto, 
were declared by our English friend to be somewhat like the 
Trossacs in Scotland. Whatever they may resemble, I am 
sure that nothing could exceed the beauty of the position of 
Olevano. 

Whilst descending the hill which overlooked this village, 
and nearly opposite the perchiky town of Civitella, we enjoyed 
a glorious panorama, extending far and widely over the 
mountains and the distant campagna, for miles. Having, at 
length, reached the hospitable roof of an inn at this place, all 
wet, and wearied, and depressed, we were heartily glad to 
slip, first, into the old clothes and boots of Don Pratese, our 
host, and, after we had all warmed ourselves at a fire-place, 
which reminded us of the hearths of Maine, refreshed our- 
selves with a hearty supper, and revived our spirits with our 
landlord's mulled wine, we were heartily glad to slip under 
cover, and into clean beds, under the attic. 



ANCIENT WINDOWS. 203 



OLEVANO TO PALESTRINA. 
LXXXIII. 

On the following day we spent an honr in climbing up the 
rugged sides of the Serpentara, a high bluff, back of the town, 
in order to get the best view of this pretty village and its 
picturesque old castle in ruins. On our way to the summit, 
we crossed several streams, which were occupied by animated 
groups of active washer-women, who were more busy at the 
washing of other people's clothes than awake to their own 
nudity and strange positions. 

Here, whilst one of our lady-artists was engaged with a 
sketch of the scene — which, with the old ruins, might have 
served for the foundation of Salvator Rosa's women at the 
stream — we were joined by the other members of the party 
^^'ho had preceded us to Olevano ; and thus, again united, we 
were driven, after dinner, on our way to Palestrina, by a road 
\^•hich passed through rather a flat country, until we arrived 
at Gennesaro. 

We stopped here awhile, leaving the carriage outside the 
gates, and walked up to view the ruins of the old Colonna 
Palace, which occupied the top of a high hill. Here we left 
Mr. S. to take a drawing of some very beautiful, ancient 
Gothic windows which remained in the walls of an antique 
stone frame, and descended again to the gates, in order to 
enter our carriage, so as to be enabled to reach our destina- 
tion before night-fall. The ride beyond Gennesaro to Pales- 
trina was much more interesting than that which had pre- 
ceded, and in some points, near Cave, it was extremely pic- 
turesque. It was too late, however, to enjoy much more than 



204 THE LAXD OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

the gorgeous effects of sunset upon the landscape, or to 
listen to the warblings of numerous nightingales, making the 
woods alive. As it was, we did not reach the town of 
Palestrina before nine o'clock in the evening, but '^ che im- 
porta^' — what matters it ? We put up for the night at " mine 
hostess" of the ^' Cappelajo," where everything turned out — 
as it promised — well ; and, should I say it, that ought not, 
she had a pretty daughter Balbina. 



PALESTRINA. 
LXXXIV. 

This town, the frigudum Prseneste, which was sung by 
Horace for its coolness, has an origin more remote than Rome 
and not less obscure, than the fabulous traditions of its founda- 
tion. It was, and still appears on its mountains, a kind of 
stronghold. Its cyclopean walls of calcareous rock, held to- 
gether without cement, render it now as formidable, as when the 
Colonne nobles resisted the forces of the Popes. The inhabi- 
tants settled on the spot, where the celebrated Temple of 
Fortune had stood. This magnificent temple, the most in- 
teresting ruin at Palestrina — which made the ambassador 
Carneades — the philosophic Athenian, say to the senate, 
that he had never seen a fortune more fortunate than that, 
and whose oracles, {sortes prcenestmce,) outlived all others, 
furnished the famous mosaic of different colors, which is now 
placed in one of the apartments of the Barberini palace. It 
evidently represented the celebration of the ceremonies which 
took place at the annual inundation of the Nile, for the groups 
of the various animals, the hippopotamus, the ibis, and the 



SUNDAY FESTIVAL. 205 



giraffe, have their names written in distinct Greek characters 
on the floor of the pavement. As we were passing upward on 
our way to the top of the mountain, we found it to be a holi- 
day Sunday, and the people were holding festival, fair, and 
service, within and outside the precincts of St. Peter's. We 
were not a little surprised at this strange mingling of military 
and religious exercises on this occasion ; and no less sensibly 
shocked to hear Mass at one ear, and listen to the chants at 
the organ, whil^ in the intervals, reports of artillery were heard 
at the other, outside the church door. It seemed, rather, more 
like the services of a saturnalia, than those usual on the Sab- 
bath. There is a picturesque feudal Castle in ruins, near the 
church, and the view from La Rocca, one of the most remark- 
able in the environs of Rome, embraces the heroic theatre, of 
her first exploits, of her wars so vigorously prosecuted, so 
wisely terminated, and which early announced the future mas- 
ters of the world. Our party returned to Rome, on Monday 
morning, and having entered by the superb gate of the 
Porta Maggiore, we separated, at our respective lodgings — 
Travers to the via Balbuina, and I to the via Torlonia, and 
to my room in the Hotel d^Angleterre, not far from the Piazza 
di Spagna. 

PIAZZA DI SPAGNA. 
LXXXV. 

The Piazza di Spagna, without the grand and noble 
structure of the stairs of the Trinita de Monti, would 
really appear, with its numerous hotels, clean, new, and 
characterless, the square of a provincial town. 

Whatever is great and distinguished visits Rome, Madame 



206 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

de Stael wittily surnamed this admirable city the '' Drawing- 
room of Europe" ; and if its monuments are associated with 
all ages, the foreigners who meet there comprise every 
country. The simple contemplation of Rome, and a pro- 
longed residence, may supply the place of long studies and 
much travelling. It must be added, that these strangers 
come to see, to know, or to repose themselves, and that they 
are taken and observed at the best moment. Therefore, 
Rome, with its ruins, reminiscences, and the important persons 
it receives, is the spot of the earth where the gaze of wonder 
is least seen. It would be useless and stupid to aim at effect 
there ; and many a wit, not apprised of this, has thrown off 
his dissertations, thoughts, and witticisms, with only his 
trouble for his pains. 

LXXXVI. 

It was oifr good fortune to have made no claims on my 
countrymen in Rome. The few I met were travellers like 
myself, and such as I should be pleased to acknowledge 
as my friends and acquaintances elsewhere. We always 
deemed it a loss of time to seek out the society of the resident 
artists' famihes ; for, however clever the men themselves 
might be in their studios, they passed into a browner study at 
home ; since the wife of one of them foolishly declared to me, 
that it was a bore to entertain so many of her countrymen 
abroad. 

Some of my pleasantest evenings were passed in the family 
of Professor Mercurio and his lady, whom I always found very 
polite and agreeable — who as kindly corrected, as they ex- 
cused my bad Italian, and gratified my taste, by singing and 
playing from the choicest selections of the operas of the great 



MEN OF TRASTEVERE. 20t 



masters. I shall never forget the gentle tones of the erudite 
and amiable professor, or the naivete of the manners of their 
only daughter, who used to aid me in my Italian converzationes ; 
nor can I forget the instructive seasons spent in the apart- 
ments of the Commendatore Hiiysen, that polished gentleman 
and scholar, who, for twenty years, had represented the Court 
of Portugal, as her ambassador at Rome, and had there sur- 
rounded himself with a choice library of excellent selection, 
and had in his possession one of the most valuable private 
galleries of paintings in Rome. Such, however, was his 
passion for travel, that even after so long a sojourn, he 
longed for'a change, and sought for nower pleasures and more 
refreshing climes. 

LXXXVII. 

Of the general habits and customs of the people of the city 
we could say little, for we gathered less, from the modern 
Romans. We only observed the noble mien and stately bear- 
ing of the womcH on the Corso, who seemed, to walk like 
queens, and, appeared worthy to be the descendants of the old 
patricians' daughters. 

But of the haughty Trasteverines, of whom so much has 
been said, we may remark, they still retain, under their devo- 
tion and new fanaticism, some vestiges of the energy and 
spirit of their ancestors. As in ancient times, the people of 
Rome are easily excited by spectacles. Its noisy carnival is 
only a repetition of the saturnalia. On one occasion, a Swiss 
of the Pope's Guard having repeatedly put back one of these 
men, who was desirous to obtain a too close view of the Pope 
praying to St. Peter's, at last the Trasteverine, drawing back, 
thus scornfully addressed the halberdier : — " Barlaro, son di 



208 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

sangue romano, anche Trojano /" — " Barbarian ! I am of Roman 
blood, although a Trojan !" Castiglioue cites the anecdote of 
a peasant who, when complaining to the podesta of the loss 
of his ass, which had been stolen, wound up his statement 
and the eulogium of his ass by saying, that, when he had his 
panel on, he was quite a Cicero. This medley of imagination 
and ancient traditions is found even in the language of the 
women of the lower orders ; and a young Roman gu'l, on 
seeing a handsome lad pass by, would say, that he was Console 
di Belta, (a Consul of Beauty.) The country people repeat 
familiarly the words, via Ajpjpia, via Flaminia, when showing 
us the road ; and all swear per Bacco ! 

In no part of the world is the recommendation of a hand- 
some face so efficient as at Rome, and hunchbacks and 
deformed people are hardly deemed men. Cardinal Odaleschi, 
who had a pleasing countenance, used occasionally to preach 
before he became Cardinal. The Roman gossips then met 
under the pulpit, and made quite a scene in expressing their 
admiration of his face. A cardinal, Lante, received the sur- 
name of the Carina cardinal (charming,) and he was commonly 
called by that title in society. 



OUR LAST EXCURSION. 
LXXXVIIL 

It was the colonel, my Boston friend, who proposed an 
excursion to Frascati, and over Cave, by Albano, and back to 
Rome ; and this proposal was no sooner made than accepted, 
and the carriage ordered for an early start in the middle of 
May. I have little recollection of the ride across the dreary 



OUR ARMY AND WARD. 209 

waste of the Campagna, except that the colonel observed the 
great lack of forest and shade trees in this region, and, in fact, 
throughout Europe ; to which I assented, and drew up the 
top of the cari'iage to shield us from the rays of the scorch- 
ing sun. 

We arrived at Frascati about one o'clock at noon, and 
after a refreshing wash, walked up the hill to the villa Mon- 
dragone, not deeming it worth our while to stop at the Ta- 
venia, which was built below it, by Cardinal Scipione, a 
nephew of Paul Y., who inhabited it, and who always found 
two advantages in building — the first was, the embellish- 
ment of Rome, the second, the employment of workmen, 
for whom he thought it better to find work than to give 
them alms. 

The immense Mondragone villa, with its three hundred and 
seventy-four windows, now in decay, owed its foundation to 
the attentions of a Roman courtier. When Pope Gregory 
XIII. , accompanied by Cardinal Altemps, was passing over 
those heights, struck with the beauty of the view, he ex- 
claimed, " What a fine position for a villa !" The Cardinal 
had this sumptuous palace built immediately ; and the first 
time he went into the country {vilkggiare,) he managed to 
pass that way with the Pope, who was surprised, nay, 
amazed at the sudden elevation of the edifice. Such flat- 
tering courtesy paints the ancient magnificence of the Roman 
Court. The broken walls command the most extensive view- 
in the environs of Rome, embracing the Campagna, the Sea, 
and all the Sabine, and adjoining, mountains. 



210 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



TUSCULUM. 

LXXXIX. 

" but beneath thy right 

Tully reposed from Rome." 

On our way up to Tusculum, we stopped at the Convent of 
Camuldino, and visited the churcli and cells of the monks, 
who treated us very courteously, and regaled us with a tumbler 
of good native wine. While there, we enjoyed a fine view, 
from their terrace, of a double horizon of sea and mountains, 
which was sublimely grand, as at that moment there was 
a thunder-storm in the direction of Tivoli, and the heavy 
shadows which were thrown on the plain, by the clouds inter- 
vening between the sun and the earth, lent to the Campagna 
the aspect of a sullen and rolling sea. The Rufinella, a de- 
lightful villa, in the midst of woods, on the summit of a moun- 
tain, with an admirable view of Rome and the sea, is in excel- 
lent air, like all the old houses of the Jesuits. A pretty 
anecdote, well told by P. Roberti, in his letter sul p-endere 
Varia e il sole, proves the reputation of those fathers on this 
head : — A lord of Bologna had ordered of Cav. Guiseppi 
Crispi a painting representing his country casino, in which he 
required the salubrity of the air to be indicated. Crispi made 
a cloudless azure sky, a limpid brook, cooling waters ; he 
painted a verdant sward, an abundant vegetation, the vines 
loaded with golden grape, (uva Paradisa,) which ripens at 
Bologna, is kept and eaten at the Carnival suppers, can even 
be sent abroad, and of which the Bolognese Senate made a 
present to the Emperor Charles YI. every year. Despite the 
smiling aspect of the landscape, the gentleman found that the 



SUPERB RUINS. 211 



wholesomeness of the air of his casino was not precisely indi- 
cated, as most of the details might be attributed to the good- 
ness of the soil. Crispi then resolved to place before the door, 
in a green meadow, just after sunset, two bald Jesuits, with- 
out caps, reading a book : " See now," said he, " whether the 
air is good or not ?" — Vechte se qui e hon aria ? — and the 
exacting master found the argument unanswerable. 

The Palace of Rufinella, once possessed by Lucien Bona- 
parte, is now owned by the king of Sardinia. 

xc. 

At length we reached Tasculum, or the site of its antique 
ruins, but soon had to hide ourselves in a cave until the brunt 
of a sudden heavy rain-storm was over. Shortly after, we 
made our escape from this spot — which we had peopled with 
an image of the famous scene of (Eneas and Dido, in the 
thunder-storm in Yirgil — and explored the remains of the 
Theatre, which vfas wonderfully preserved, and retained its 
pedestal and seats of Tusculum stone. We also examined a 
part of an ancient aqueduct, the traces of an old street, and 
some recently-excavated chambers, with a good mosaic pave- 
ment. Further down the hill are the remains of the house of 
Catullus in some parts of the rooms occupied by the servants 
and stables, which have been erroneously attributed to Cicero's 
villa. The house of Cicero, previously Sylla's, was on this 
mountain, which seems still to have an air of antiquity, and 
offers deep, solitary, and philosophic shades, like those which 
inspired the Tusculana. Some superb ruins are reputed to 
have belonged to Cicero's Academia ; near, but lower down, 
are some mural ruins. An aqueduct that ends there is curious, 
as its last arcade is perfectly Gothic ; which is not the only 



212 THE LAND OF THE CJiSAR AND THE DOGE. 

instance of this kind among the monuments of antiquity, for 
the Greeks and Romans well knew how to employ it, when 
essential to solidity. So true it is, that architecture has its 
proper foundation and beginning, no less tlian art, in nature 
— a reflection which struck us in Egypt, vrhen we saw the 
arched grottoes of Hagar Silsilis, near Assuau. Whilst de- 
scending the hill, we enjoyed a fine prospect over the Cam- 
pagna as far as the capital, the distant mountains as well as 
to the heights of Monte Cave, Rocca di Pappa, and the sea. 

XOI- 

After an hour's walk, we arrived at Grotta-Ferrata, an 
abbey of Greek Monks, of the Order of St. Basil, who always 
perform the services in their liturgy under the protection of 
the French Consulta at Rome — although with the aspect of a 
fortress, rather than that of a monastry — a charming wood, a 
fine avenue of elms and plane-trees, with a pretty fountain, 
render this solitude agreeable. 

The Chapel of St. Nilus, founder of the Abbey, by 
Domenlchino, is one of his finest chefs-d'auvre. He executed 
it in his twenty-ninth year, having been recommended by his 
master, Annibale Carraccio, to Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, 
Abbot of Grotta-Ferrata. The Saint receiving the Emperor 
Otho III., is perfect in composition and execution ; the grace- 
ful head of the youth, with a white plume on a blue cap, who 
is drawing back from Otho's prancing horse, is the portrait of 
one of those young girls of Frascate, long celebrated for their 
beauty, whom Domenichino loved, but could not obtain her 
hand from her rude and vulgar parents, who, enraged at the 
sight of this portrait, obliged the artist to make his departure, 
and return to Rome. The courtier in a green mantle, dis- 



FRASCATI. 213 



mounting from his horse, represents the learned Giambattista 
Agucchi, Domenichino's benefactor ; the different expressions 
of the three trumpeters on horseback, indicate the various 
tones of their instruments ; one really seems to hear this 
astonishing painting. In the Miracle of the Saint holding up 
a Column — a very natural and picturesque fresco — a scene of 
masonry, with some burlesque details, St. Bartholomew, who 
is examining the plan of the monastery presented to him by 
the architect, has a pair of spectacles ; the figures of the 
Greek bishops at the top of the Chapel, also by Domenichino, 
are superb in color and character. 

XCII. 

On our return to Frascati, we saw several other villas, 
and enjoyed other picturesque landscapes ; but the Colonel 
was heartily fatigued by the long journey through which he 
had been led, and, as we sat after dinner, in repose, I tried to 
soothe his weariness and humors, by a description of our 
resting-place. 

Frascati has risen near, but below the ruins of the antique 
Tusculum, which was destroyed — utterly destroyed — at the 
end of the twelfth century, by the Romans of the middle ages, 
as ruthless as the citizens of ancient Rome. Then the un- 
fortunate inhabitants of Tusculum were compelled to live 
under huts made of branches, (frasche,) whence it derived its 
barbarous Latin name of Frascatwn, now Frascati. The 
situation of Frascati is pleasant, and its air excellent ; the 
population amounts to five thousand souls ; the spacious 
Square and Cathedral are rather imposing, and the various 
villas, so harmoniously disposed around the town, are mag- 
nificent. 



214 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

XCIII. 

At 5 o'clock, of a dewy morning, we started away from 
Frascati, with a fine air, at a brisk trot, for Rocca di Fappa. 
Our road was partially over the ground of yesterday ; but 
near the Grotta-Eerrata we turned off in another direction, 
and by a picturesque bridle-path, hurried up to this rock- 
seated town, which was perched on the very summit of a 
mountain. From this point, we scoured across the plain of 
Hannibal to Monte Cave, and before reaching the top of this 
hill, we rode over the Roman chariot-way, which led to the 
ancient temple on the summit. 

Our view from the heights of Monte Cave were as 
extremely interesting and beautiful as they were panoramic in 
extent, for they embraced not only the picturesque Lakes of 
Albano and Nemi, but several little towns which stood upon 
their margins. 

xciv. 
*' Lo, Nemi ! naveird, in the woody hills." 

We descended finally to the border of Lake Nemi, and 
followed the road which skirted its beautiful waters and 
terminated in an avenue of trees, running nearly around the 
entire circumference of its glassy, oval, mirror. As we ap- 
proached the town of Nemi, the scenery increased in loveliness 
and attraction. The pretty lake of Nemi, which from its form 
and clearness of its waters was gracefully styled in the my- 
thology, the Mirror of Diana, {Sjpeculum Diance,) is bordered 
with a smiling and luxuriant vegetation of trees and flowers. 
On one side of it, is Genzano, of four thousand inhabitants, 
renowned for its air, wine, pears, and the charming mosaic of 
flowers with which the pavement of the approaches to its 



GALLERY OF OAKS. 216 



spacious cliurch is covered on the octave of the festival of 
Corpus Domini,— a brilliant decoration, indicative of some kind 
of taste and inclination for art, in a little town. The situation 
of Genzano is by no means as pleasant as that of ^emi, where, 
it is supposed, there was formerly a temple of Diana. We 
saw some very pretty women at Genzano, before whom we 
stopped to inquu'e the way to Albano. Xothing could exceed 
the pleasantness of our ride from Genzano to Larricia, or 
the lovely character of the landscape and features of the 
country. From Larricia, we left the ordinary road to Al- 
bano, and by another route struck off through the woods, 
into a fine avenue of forest-trees bordering the way-side 
on our ride to Castel-Gandolfo. Here we dismounted for 
awhile, in order to view the beauty of the shores of Lake Al- 
bano and the position and face of the town. The Gallery, a 
fine avenue of evergreen oaks, leads from Castel-Gandolfo 
to Albano. The lake which fills the nearly oval crater of an 
ancient volcano, also offers its superb emissario, a tunnel of 
half a league in length, cut through the mountain, which, 
after 2230 years, attests the power of Rome in her earlier 
days — a monument of that patriotic superstition which con- 
tributed so much to her greatness. 

xcv. 

Every body recollects the old Etruscan augury, which 
predicted that the Romans would never take Yeii, if the 
rise of the lake did not find an issue, otherwise than into the 
sea. 

A Xymphea, called by the peasants Grotta di Bergantino, 
and by the learned, the Bath of Diana, a reticulated construc- 
tion in the form of a grotto, formerly intended for a cool re- 



216 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

treat, and enveloped by a vigorous vegetation, is of a singu- 
larly picturesque aspect. 

The large village of Castel-Gandolfo dates only from the 
twelfth century. Its plain palace is the only country-seat 
possessed by the Pope. 

Having again regained our position on horse-back we 
dashed onward through the town, and shortly afterwards 
were quietly seated in the Salon of the " Parigi,^^ at Albano. 
The change from the wild shores of Lake Nemi to the trim 
and cultivated Albano, was quite perceptible, and Y\'e soon dis- 
covered from the external aspect of objects, that Xature had 
parted with half her charms for the art and fashion of this 
town. Albano is the most fashionable summer residence in 
the environs of Rome. On the door of the Church of Santa 
Maria della Kotonda, are some magnificent marble ornaments 
sculptured in acanthus leaves, taken from some antique edifice. 
The two ruins, called the Tomh of Ascanius, founder of Alba 
Longa, and the tomb of the Horatii and Curiatii must have 
been magnificent mausoleums. 

xcvi. 

The vast garden of the Barberini villa presents considerable 
remains of the country-house and Thermae of Domitian, mixed 
with fine trees. Here we overlooked the whole Campania of 
Rome, an uncultivated desert sown with ruins, in which the 
pontifical city, with its gilded domes, its marble columns, its 
granite obelisks, its immense palaces, looks like a majestic 
oasis of monuments. 

We returned on that afternoon to Rome ; and the setting- 
sun tinged the golden ball of St. Peter's shrine, as we entered 
again the gates of the Imperial City : — 



MAGNIFICENT VIEW. 217 



But I forget. My Pilgrim's shrine is won, 

And Rome and I must part, — so let it be : 
His task and mine alike are nearly done ; 

Yet, once more, let us look upon the sea ; 
The midland ocean breaks on him and me, 

And from the Alban Mount we now behold 
Our friend of youth, that ocean, which, when we 

Beheld it last by Calpe's rock unfold 
Those waves, we follow'd on till the dark Euxine roll'd 

Upon the blue Symplegades : — 
My task is done : — my theme — Farewell ! — Farewell ! 

Oh, Rome ! — my country !— city of the soul ! — Farewell !" 



THE DUKEDOM 



TUSCANY AND FLORENCE 



THE ROAD TOWARDS FLOREJS^CE. 



We must imagine a vetturino, tackled with two sorry 
horses, (which the condottori, on our asking, if his '' cavalli 
were bnoni," swore "per Bacco," they were; "Si signore, 
vdoce como un Urramotop as swift as an earthquake,) stand- 
ing outside the gate of the Piazza del Popolo, just opposite 
the gate of the Borghese villa ; and our friend, Signor Jack- 
son, attended by Travers and myself, walking out after the 
vehicle, and having gone to a certain distance, standing for 
a mutual leave-taking and shaking of hands, and we shall have 
a very faithful imitation of that classical scene, when Juvenal 
attended his old friend TJmbricius, at parting ; excepting, that 
they waited for their wagon to arrive — which was going to 
Baioe, in the south — but, contrarily, in our case, the carriage 
now waited for us, and we were about journeying to the north, 
in the direction of Florence. 

Thus we separated from our excellent friend, and, with a 
"buon viagge" and buon giorno lei, and mutual exchanges of 
civilities in due form, we were driven away from him, and 
were soon rattling over the Fontt MolJe, formerly the Pons 
Milvius, one of the most famous spots in history, which wit- 
nessed the arrest, by Cicero's orders, of the Allobroges envoys, 
Cataline's accomplices, the nocturnal orgies of Xero, and, above 
all, the religious and social victory of Constantine over Max- 
entius. It retains nothing antique, now, but some of its piles 



222 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

II. 

The setting sun, from the centre of this bridge, is one of the 
finest scenes in the Campagna of Rome. The gilded moun- 
tains of La Sabina, the course of the Tiber, the long files of 
shattered aqueducts, form one of those sights, full of grandeur 
and melancholy, nowhere else to be found. A small foot-path 
which runs along the river side from the town to Ponte Molle, 
was one of the favorite walks of Poussin, who selected from 
this majestic and poetical horizon the skies and back-ground 
of his landscapes. 

We soon passed by the Sarcophagus of Publius Yibius Ma- 
rianus, which is always called Nero's Tomb, by the postillions, 
(in spite of the inscription and sculpture,) among whom his 
great crimes and public works have created for him a kind 
of popularity. 

In this part of Italy, art seems superior to nature, and the 
road lies through a dreary and desolate region, which con- 
tributes much to sadden the departure from the Imperial City, 
and lends a sombre and mournful cast to your thoughts and 
reflections, which is not relieved until you breakfast at Bac- 
cano. From Baccano, Rome sinks gradually from view, and 
the ball of St. Peter's is no longer visible ; at which point, the 
termination of the Campagna, by the peculiar volcanic basin 
formed in an amphitheatre of low hills, so diverts the mind as 
to open the way to fairer and more enlivening scenes. 

III. 

We were shortly interested by a sight of the ancient walls 
of Nepi, where the arcades of an aqueduct, encumbered with 
vegetation, stretched its range over the bed of a small stream. 
This poor and little town, mentioned by Livy as one of the 



LONE SORACTE. 



two gates of Rome on the side of Etruria, was a fortress in 
the Middle Ages. Its location on the very extremity of a 
dell, with its singularly-marked characteristics, rendered it 
quite picturesque to view. Our ride continued to be more 
and more interesting, until we reached Civita Castellana, 
where we stopped for the night. 

During our stroll before sunset, vre visited its Cathedral, 
and beheld the fine old citadel, built by Julius II., v/hich is 
now a state prison for the confinement of political offenders ; 
and the views which we caught of the '' lone Soracte's height," 
were superlatively grand, as the sun departed behind its purple 
ridge. The noble and picturesque bridge, which spans over a 
torrent rolling through a deep ravine bordered with rocks, is 
of a magnificence and strength which reminds you of an Au- 
gustine age. There are also many interesting Etruscan fea- 
tures remaining near the town, where the natural fissures in 
the rocks seem to have been used for the sepulchration of the 
dead, and some traces of rudely-made tombs are still visible 
among the clefts in the volcanic chasms. During dinner we 
enjoyed the society of some ladies who were going to Ancona ; 
one of them, a charming young widow, with whom we soon 
grew into familiar chat, and whose esprit and beauty had con- 
tributed much to the liveliness of our meal, coquetishly joined 
us in smoking a cigar after the dessert. 

CIVITA CASTELLAN TO TERNI. 
IV. 

On the morning of the next day, we passed over the plain 
near Borghetto, where Macdonald made his celebrated re- 
treat in 1798, and crossed over the T'bcr with his army, after 



224 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

having routed forty thousand Neapolitans, under Mack. 
From this point there is a steamboat to Rome ; which shows 
the Tiber to be navigable, to some extent, with small boats. 
This early ride through an interesting and highly picturesque 
country brought us, about noon, to Narni, with its strong 
position and little old citadel. A little below the town and 
about a half a mile from the road, are the superb remains 
of the bridge of Augustus, the ancient passage of the via 
Flaminia over the ]N"era. The scenery of the valley at this 
spot was very striking, and a view from under one of the re- 
maining arches, embracing in its scope a distant convent and 
some graceful hills in the background, was truly picturesque. 
The various combinations and contrasts of foliages, with the 
cultivated richness of the olive groves and umbrella-pines, of 
waters and rocks, shadows and lights, together with the 
warm tints which were intoned by a brilliant sky over the 
various kinds of grains and fruits, and harmoniously sustained 
by undulating hills, ragged fissures, and romantic dales, con- 
tributed to produce and perfect that peculiar effect and name- 
less charm which is summed up in one's idea of an Italian 
landscape ; or, if it could be named, might be called the 
" Poussin-Salvator-Claude" of pictorial romance. 

In the afternoon, we walked to the Convent-Church of the 
Zoccolanti, to see one of the rare works of Spagna, who, next 
to Raphael, was the best pupil of Perrugino, whom he resem- 
bled in coloring. It represents an Episcopal Ceremony, which 
is remarkable for the purity and nobleness of its design, and 
the happy disposition of the different figures. Our carriage 
having been forwarded to meet us at the road-side, near the 
convent, we entered, and were again in motion. 

The road as far as Terni, through a country planted with 



CASCADE OF TERNI. 225 



olive trees, and with an admirable view of the green plains of 
Umbria, and the woody summits of the Apennines, both stud- 
ded with conspicuous white mansions, became, at every step, 
more and more captivating and magnificent. 



Terni, a charming town, in having vainly claimed the 
honor of giving birth to Tacitus, is more especially cele- 
brated for its cascade, which is one of the wonders of Italy. 
No sooner had we arrived here, than we hired a phaeton, 
and with a spirited pair of horses and a mounted postillion, 
were jockeyed off at a rapid pace, to visit the Falls. 

Every foot of the road was interesting to us ; and, as we 
ascended the hills in the vicinity of the waters, we obtained 
lofty perspectives of the villages of Terni and Papigno in the 
distance. Each turn on the mountain gave us a new series 
of delightful prospects, excepting that alone where a fine 
old feudal castle surmounting the last hill, dominates the 
valley ; for it marked the ravages of a French domination 
in Italy. 

Nothing could exceed the sublimity of the effects that con- 
trolled us on our immediate approach to the Falls, or the 
emotions produced at the sudden glimpse which we had of the 
cascades, as they burst upon the sight at a sudden turn in the 
road. The noble pyramidical hills, swelling upward from the 
plain, '' where rich verdant valleys smile from their embraces," 
and the view of those distant mountain-gnomes, with the rich 
effects of light and shadow glowing and alternating over the 
abyss of the Neri, formed a fit frame-work for that beautiful 
flood of waters, which leaped impetuously from the fountains 
of the Yelino. We were thrice happy in those brilliant effects 



226 THE LAND OF THE CAESAR AND THE DOGE. 

which the rich golden fires of sunset cast under the uplifted 
curtains of the swiftly-passing storm-clouds. This admirable 
cascade does not roll and bound like a savage cataract, 
through steep and barren rocks, but plunges into a smiling 
and fertile valley planted with orange trees. It showers 
around its impetuous dews over the flowers and herbage, and 
is in perfect keeping with the sky, the sun, and the horizon 
of Italy. 

VI. 

The best views, from above, are those which are to be had 
from a kind of balcony on a rock, and from the little casino on 
a green knoll about a quarter of a mile below. The cascade 
ought to be first seen from below. As you descend toward the 
valley, each succeeding view surpasses the others in grace and 
beauty, whilst the effects of its ancient channels, and the deep 
grottoes of its silent workings, relieve and interest the sight, 
until you cross to the opposite bank, where you get a full and 
perfect panoramic view of the Falls, and the eye embraces the 
entire sweep of its impassioned course, as it falls headlong, 
" and is lost in a mist of its own creation." 

Truly, Neri may be described as the finest cascade in Eu- 
rope, and in picturesque effect, as far surpassing Niagara ; 
if it could be permitted to compare two wonders, so perfect 
in their respective orders, — Niagara, the image of sublimity 
and beauty — Terni, that of beauty overwhelmed by madness. 

*' The roar of waters ! — from the headlong height 
Velino cleaves the ■wave--worn precipice ; 
The fall of waters ! rapid as the light 

The flashing mass foams, shaking the abj'ss ; 
The hell of waters ! where thev howl and hiss, 



LOVE WATCHING MADNESS. 221 

And boil in endless torture ; while tlie sweat 
Of their great agony, wrung out from this 
Their Phlegethon, curls round the rocks of jet 
That gird the gulf around, in pitiless horror set, 

" And mounts in spray the skies, and thence again 
Returns in an unceasing shower, which round 
With its unemptied cloud of gentle rain. 
Is an eternal April to the ground. 
Making it all one emerald : — how profound 
The gulf ! and how the giant element 

From rock to rock leaps with delirious bound. 

Crushing the cliffs, which downward worn and rent 

With his fierce footsteps, yield in chasms a fearful vent. 

*' To the broad column which rolls on, and shows 
More like the fountain of an infant sea 
Torn from the womb of mountains by the throes 
Of a new world, than only thus to be 
Parent of rivers, which flow gushingly 
With many windings, through the vale : — Look back ! 

Lo ! where it comes like an eternity, 
As if to sweep down all things in its track. 
Charming the eye with dread — a matchless cataract, 

" Horribly beautiful ! but on the verge, 

From side to side, beneath the glittering morn, 
An Iris sits, amid the infernal surge, 

Like Hope upon a death-bed, and, unworn 
Its steady dyes, while all around is torn 
By the distracted waters, bears serene 

Its brilliant hues with all their beams unshorn ; 
Resembling, 'mid the tortures of the scene. 
Love watchins; Madness, with unalterable mien." 



228 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

VII. 

The road by which we returned, led through the little 
village of Papigno, famous for the size and flavor of its 
peaches, whence the roar of the cascade, though three miles 
distant, is still audible. After passing through some shady 
olive-groves, and by the rapid waters of the Yelino and Nera 
united, we reached the delightful villa of the Graziani, which 
was once occupied by the Princess of Wales ; the road then 
descended into a valley, through a succession of woods and 
enchanting spots, which make this valley one of the finest 
districts in the world. Happy were we to arrive back at 
Terni, on having been favored by Heaven in upholding the 
rain just long enough to make the pleasant excursion; and 
before the full drops fell to obscure the sky. 

VIII. 

On Wednesday, the mountain of La Somma presented all 
the majestic beauties of the savage nature of our native 
forests ; and the oxen of the Clitumnus, which helped the 
weary horses of the vetturino to draw us over its summit, 
were formerly grand and sacred victims, that conducted the 
triumphers of Rome to the temples of the gods. 

*' Hinc albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxima taurus 
Victima, soepe tuo perfusi flumine sacro 
Romanos ad templa DeCim duxfere triumplios." 

— Virg. Geor. 11. 147. 

After passing La Somma, the country assumed a sweeter 
aspect, and we descended to the valley of Spoleto. The 
citadel of Spoleto, on a hill, has some remains of Cyclopean 
walls. The gate called Hannibal's, a Roman work, bears 



FRESCOES AT SPOLETO. 229 

witness to the resistance made by this ancient town to the 
Carthaginian Captain, and proves its fideUty to the Romans ; 
it further shows how powerful the towns of Italy must have 
been to brave such a conqueror, and arrest his progress. 

The Cathedral is ornamented by the frescoes of the elder 
Filippo Lippi, an adventurous artist, who, having fled from a 
convent, and been made a slave in Barbary, was freed and 
honored for his talent, and afterwards died at Spoleto, from 
the effects of poison administered to him by the relatives of a 
great lady whose affections he had won. He who had pre- 
viously carried off a boarder from a convent, was honored by 
Lorenzo de Medici, who erected a tomb over his remains, in 
this church, with an epitaph by Politian. The view from the 
piazza in front, is magnificent and extends as far as the town 
of Trevi, which rises like an amphitheatre on the slope of the 
mountains, and is very picturesque. 

One of Spagna's frescoes which formerly stood on the 
wall of a fortress had been removed to the public palace ; a 
curious relic, or e\idence of the richness of Italy in art, where 
frescoes Avere so abundant that it seemed they could afford to 
have them painted on the fronts of their dwellings, and ex- 
posed to the open air. 

The inhabitants of Spoleto, whose celebrity for finesse and 
cunning was equal to the Luccanese of the present day, carried 
political fanaticism to the extreme verge of ferocity in the 
civil wars of the Guelphs and Ghibilines. In one of their 
chronicles, the following tale was found, which might supply 
our painters and poets with a pathetic subject : — When the 
Ghibilines were setting fire to the houses of their adversaries, 
a woman, married to a Guelph, seeing her Ghibiline brother 
directing her house to be set on fire, went to the top of the 



230 THE LAXD OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

tower with her two children in her arms, and asked him to 
pity them and herself. The ruthless Ghibiline told her to 
throw the two embryo Guelphs into the flames, and he would 
save her ; but a mother's love was strongest, and the woman 
was burnt with her two children. 

IX. 

At the gate of the post-town delle Vene, near which rises 
the Clitumnus, a river once sacred, that was sung by Yirgil, 
and ingeniously described by Pliny, who seems to have sup- 
plied the name of the place, — 

" Hunc suite?' fons exit, et expri?mtur plurihus venis^^ — "For 
near this spot the spring issues, and gushes out from many 
reins J^ 

The classic Clitumnus, now a mere brook, is no longer 
navigable to its source, as in Pliny's days. 

The enchanting site was rich in lovely landscapes which 
were beautifully displayed, under the warm light of the ver- 
nal noon, and the rich plain which it watered, mingled its 
velvet lawn with the ripe bright furrows of the cultivated soil, 
and interspersed its percolating streams through ripe fields of 
golden grain, where well-trimmed fruit-trees were bedecked 
and linked together with festoons of running grape-vines. 
The pretty antique temple, which was also an early Christian 
chapel, was, I believe, the origin of Pouissin's landscape of 
Phocion, and inspired Byron with a tributary piece : — 

" But thou, Clitumnus ! in thy sweetest wave 
Of the most living crystal that was e'er 
The haunt of river-nymph, to gaze and lave 

Her limbs where nothing hid them, thou dost rear 
Thy grassy banks, wherf^on the milk-white steer 



MADONNA DI FOLIGNO. 231 

Grazes ; the parent god of gentle waters ! 

And most serene of aspect, and most clear ; 
Surely that stream was unprofaned by slaughters 
A mirror and a bath for Beauty's youngest daughters ! 

•' And on thy happy shore a temple still, 
Of small and delicate proportion, keeps, 
Upon a mild declivity of hill, 
Its memory of thee ; beneath it sweeps 
Thy current's calmness ; oft from out it leaps 
The finny darter with the glittering scales. 

Who dwells and revels in thy glassy deeps ; 
While, chance, some scatter'd water-lily sails 
Down where shallower wave still tells its bubbling tales. 

" Pass not unblest the Genius of the place ! 
If through the air a zephyr more serene 
Win to the brow, 'tis his ; and if ye trace 
Along his margin a more eloquent green. 
If on the heart the freshness of the scene 
Sprinkle its coolness, and from the dry dust 

Of weary life, a moment lave it clean 
With Nature's baptism — 't is to him ye must 
Pay orison for this suspension of disgust." 



We stopped at Follgno, a pretty and well-built town, where 
the three roads to Rome, Florence, and the Marches, meet — 
which is on a high promontory, overlooking the valley and 
plain for many miles. From the Canopea, or public prome- 
nade, we had an enchanting view, at sun-set, over the ricli 
plain of the Clitumnus, which was bordered by the forests of 
Umbria and the rugged spurs of the sterile Apennines. The 
majestic Cathedral has a badalchin, imitated from St. Peter's. 
We were hnppy, in our walk about the town, to meet with 



2o2 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

some of those sweet countenances which inspired the pencil of 
Raphael, and recognized in one lovely face that we saw, a 
lovely girl, who reminded us of his Madonna di Foligno, in 
the Louvre, at Paris. 

AS S I S I. 
XI. 

The fourth morning of our journey brought us on our way 
to Assisi, by the interesting little town of Spello, where travel- 
lers are shown the immense pretended measure of the giant 
Orlando, and the supposed mark of his knee, which was very 
high. Popular traditions of the fabulous glory and exploits 
of this ogre, and Italian imaginations, have really made Or- 
lando, the Hercules of the Middle Ages ; and these having 
multiplied his stories, labors, not unlike those of the antique 
epic hero, Ariosto had only brilliantly embodied these differ- 
ent traditions, which have been handed down in songs and 
tales for more than six centuries, in his fine poem of " Orlando 
Furioso." 

The situation of Assisi, " lodged half-way down the moun- 
tain," sustains Dante in his picturesque sketch, — 

'< Fertile costa d' alto monte pende." 

Whilst walking up the mountain upon which it hangs, 
M^e caught many fine views over the rich plains of Umbria, 
still stretching its length through the valley of the Topino, 
which was dotted with its pretty villages and neat white 
farm-houses, and prominently in its midst was the grand 
church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. 

This dull, deserted, and monastic town, is full of the memory 



CHURCH UNDER GROUND, 233 

of St. Francis, and was the birth-place of two elegant Italian 
poets, Propertius and Metastasio, 

In the public square, the ancient Temple of Minerva pre- 
sents a superb portico of fluted columns, under which sundry- 
antique fragments are collected, forming a small and interest- 
ing museum. An aqueduct, a tomb, a converted theatre, a 
superb wall, are the other wrecks which attest the importance 
of the ancient Assisium. 

The fine Church of Saint Clare has some good windows 
of painted glass, and a few frescoes of Giotto, which have 
luckily escaped the barbarous brush of the mason. St. Rufinus, 
the cathedral, has a richly-ornamented front and some richly- 
elaborated works in marble. 

The Convent of the Franciscans is grandly perched on a 
rock, which commands the entire panorama of this region, 
and extends as far as to embrace a view of the remote town 
of Perrugia. The church belonging to this Order is one of 
the most celebrated in Italy ; contains, in fact, three distinct 
chapels. The convent has much the aspect of a fortress in 
the distance. 

XII. 

The underground church, which is gloomy and austere, 
breathes an atmosphere of penitence and grief. The Gothic 
style of its architecture is a noticeable peculiarity in this re- 
gion, as the production of a German, one Jaco-po il Tedesco, 
and derives its chief interest from the fact that it dates the 
epoch of the introduction of the German architecture into 
Italy. This subterranean chapel, which is composed of 
vaulted ceilings, supporting the floors and walls of a superior 
church edifice, has an obscure and sombre aspect about it, 



234 THE LAND OF THE CJESAR AND THE DOGE. 

which comports well with the saddened and repentant humors 
of the sinners, who pray here at the shrine of "fet. Francis. 

The roof is beaatifnlly ornamented with scrolls and vigne- 
rons, and adorned with rare old frescoes, by Griotto and his 
pupils. The four poetical compartments of the ceiling of the 
cross-aisle, representing the principal virtues practised by 
St. Francis, such as Poverty, Chastity, Ohedience, and also 
his Glorification — Griotto's finest frescoes, so admirable for 
shape, attitude, and expression — prove how much he had sur- 
passed his master Cimabue, whose remarkable paintings we 
shall see in the upper church. Dante is said to have given 
Giotto the idea of these pictures, and doubtless alludes to 
this triumph of Giotto at Assisi, in the celebrated verses, — 

" Credette Cimabue nella piutura 
Tenor lo campo ; ed or a ha Giotto il grido, 
Si che la fama di colui s'oscura." 

" 'Twas thought in painting Cimabue held the field, 
But now to Giotto he the palm must yield, 
So much obscures this all the former's fame !" 

The most perfect paintings of this basilic were the spirited 
group of the Sibyls and Prophets, by Andrea of Assisi, a 
pupil of Perugiuo, and a rival of Raphael, who was surnamed 
the Wit (il Ingegno), from his marvelous disposition. We 
were also pleased with a Yirgin, by Perugino. 

XIII. 

The church above the chapel, so brilliant and luminous, 
formed an ingenious contrast with the lower sanctuary. 
Here the frescoes of Cimabue are astonishing for that epoch. 
The solitary oriel window at the end presented some superb 



MATERNAL TENDERNESS. 235 



coloring in glass. The tomb and shrine of the Saint has been 
placed in a pretty mausoleum of marble, surrounded by a 
light palisade, which is regarded the first in the world, after 
the Holy Sepulchre. 

A walk of an hour soon brought us again to the plain, and 
inside of the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. In the 
middle stood, as at Loretto, a small house which had been 
converted into a chapel ; and there were the rude walls in 
which St. Francis had given his rules, and having resolved, 
practised evangelical poverty to the letter, before he pro- 
claimed his doctrines to his disciples and the world. The 
church called the Chiesa l^uova, occupies the site of the house 
where St. Francis was born, and the traveller may see there 
the prison in which he was confined, bound like a madman, by 
his father, a rich tradesman, who was exceedingly provoked 
at the pious dissipation of his alms, and whence his more com- 
passionate mother delivered him. 

PERRUGIA. 
XIV. 

The highly picturesque town of Perrugia, which was kept 
constantly in view during our walk up the last three miles of 
its mountain, fully repaid our laborious ascent, by the sur- 
passing beauty of the outspread landscape, which was height- 
ened in effect from our lofty position. Perrugia on the 
mountain, with its fortifications, the ditches of which have 
been filled up and converted into a public promenade, is no 
less interesting with respect to art, antiquities, and literature. 

There are no less than one hundred churches and thirty 
monasteries distributed among fourteen thousand inhabitants, 



236 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

among which the Convent of the Benedictines of St. Peter 
ranks as one of the most extensive and richest ecclesiastical 
establishments in the Roman States. The church, which has 
some of Yasari's best paintings, is more particularly remark- 
able for the fine wood carvings of the choir, executed from 
Raphael's designs. These arabesque scrolls and ornaments 
fully sustain the evidences of the versatility of his genius and 
the fertility of his talent. 

The Hall dd Camhio, the Exchange of Perrugia, in the 
fifteenth century, is decorated with frescoes, by Perugino, 
who was aided by his pupil, 11 Ingegno. These admirable 
frescoes represent the portraits of illustrious men of antiquity ; 
and in the chapel adjoining divers subjects from the Old and 
New Testaments, which have been ably celebrated by the 
poets of Italy. Even here we trace the pencil of Raphael as 
well as at the Convent of the Camaldulities of San Severo, 
where his frescoes still adorn its chapel. They are a little 
damaged, but yet full of his grace and his life-like expres- 
sion. The Christ is replete with divinity. 

The University, which is considered one of the most dis- 
tinguished in Italy, embraces within its walls a botanical 
garden, an archaeological and mineral cabinet, many superb 
Etruscan remains, and an academy of fine arts. 

The different views of the interior of the town are singularly 
interesting, especially in that quarter of the public palace 
where the style of the edifices approaches the Yenetian Order 
of Architecture. 

The Piazza Grimara presents the finest remains of the 
Etruscan circuit of the town, where there is a picturesque old 
castle, and a gate flanked by two towers, called the Arch of 
Augustus. 



BATTLE, BY LIVY. 231 



" Once more in movement, and I roam 
By Tlirasimene's lake, in the defiles 
Fatal to Roman rashness, more at home ; 
For there the Carthagenian's warlike wiles 
Come back before me, as his skill beguiles 
The host between the mountains and the shore, 

Where Courage falls in her despairing files, 
And torrents swollen to rivers with their gore. 
Reek through the solitary plain, with legions scatter'd o'er ; 

'' Like to a forest felFd by mountain winds ; 
And such the storm of battle on this day. 
And such the fury whose convulsion blinds 
To all save carnage, that beneath the fray 
An earthquake reel'd unheedingly away ! 
None felt stern Nature rocking at his feet. 

And yawning forth a grave for those who lay 
Upon their bucklers for a winding-sheet ; 
Such is the absorbing hate when warring nations meet ! 

" The earth to them was as a rolling bark 
Which bore them to Eternity ; they saw 
The ocean round, but had no time to mark 
The motions of their vessel ; Nature's law, 
In them suspended, reck'd not of the awe 
Which reigns when mountains tremble, and the birds 

Plunge in the clouds for refuge, and withdraw 
From their down-toppling nests ; and bellowing herds 
Stumble o'er heaving plains, and man's dread hath no words, 

" Far other scene is Thrasimene now ; 

Her lake a sheet of silver, and her plain 
Rent by no ravage save the gentle plough ; 
Her aged trees rise thick as once the slain 
Lay where their roots are ; but a brook hath ta'en — 



238 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

A little rill of scanty stream and bed — 

A name of blood from that day's sanguine rain ; 
And Sanguinetto tells ye where the dead 
Made the earth wet, and turn'd the unwilling waters red." 

XVI. 

The aspect of the country bordering on the Lake of 
Perrugia, the ancient Thrasimene, perfectly explains the battle 
described by Polybius and Livy, " an action," proudly remarks 
the latter, " that was one of the few defeats of the Roman 
people." It is easily seen that the Consul Flaminius had a 
confined and bad retreat along the lake ; and one almost 
expects to see the Numidian cavalry rush from the mountains 
to intercept him — the superstitious recollection of this dis- 
aster produced, to parody the Latin historian, one of the 
frequent discomfitures of the Pope's soldiers, who were beaten 
on that very spot by the army of Lorenzo de Medici. 

The approaches to the Lake of Thrasimene are full of 
beauty, and especially so in that view which you obtain as 
you turn over the brow of the mountain to descend to its 
shores. How supremely lovely it appeared on the evening of 
our arrival, just as the ashes of the day were shaken from the 
chariot wheels of the sinking Phcebus, as the sun sank to rest 
behind the rich fringes of the purple forests on the hills ; 
whilst the whole atmosphere was bathed with a bloom of 
roseate hue, and the lake itself reflecting its tones of beauty 
on its mirrored surface, caught up the luminous flushes of 
eve's suffusing blush, when the day itself expired. How 
softly the moonlight stole over its waters in its turn, and laved 
the banks with the melting moods of her kisses, as the waves 
of the lake by day, would wanton with its own fostering 
shores ! — We slumbered, as the moon went down. 



AREZZO. — CATHEDRAL. 239 



CORTONA AND AREZZO. 



XVII. 



Trasimene's limpid and azure waters were still the subject 
of our mutual praises and admiration, on the following morn- 
ing, as we journeyed towards Todi and Cortona. 

The latter, like most of the Etruscan cities, was admirably 
situated on a high mountain. Leaving our vetturino at the 
foot of the hill on which it was placed, we walked into the 
town for an examination of the Praetorian palace, which is 
now the seat of the Etruscan Academy, and contains an 
excellent museum of the antiquities of this region. We had 
an enchanting view from the tower of the old church of St. 
Margaret and its monastery, surrounded with cypresses, that 
occupy the summit of the mountain of Cortona ; it embraced 
the entire range of this district, looking back as far as the 
Lake of Thrasimene. After having purchased a bottle of 
" vino sancto," a wine celebrated in this country, we regained 
our carriage at the foot of the hill, and hurried on to Casti- 
glioni for dinner. 

XVIII. 

About sunset we reached the ancient and historical town 
of Arezzo, which rises in the form of an amphitheatre on its 
lovely hills. It boasts of its number of illustrious men, 
among whom are Petrarch and Vasari. 

The Church of della Pieve, the most ancient in the town, 
presents some relics of an ancient temple, supposed to have 
been a temple of Bacchus. The fantastic caryatides, columns 
and capitals, rising in three successive ranks of stories, ex- 



240 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

hibited great facility of architectural construction, and struck 
us as a grand peculiarity in the order of church buildings. 

The magnificent Cathedral is a work of splendid effect and 
of a singularly venerable aspect, and contains a brilliant 
painted window, representing the " Calling of Saint Mat- 
thew," which excited Yasari's unbounded enthusiasm. The 
frescoes of the middle nave are evidently imitations of Ra- 
phael's Loggia in the Vatican ; and the high altar, by 
Pisani, is rich in wrought marbles, representing scenes in the 
life of the Virgin and the Martyrdom of Saint Donatus. 

The Mausoleum of Gruido Tarlati is also very curious, and 
displays different subjects of history, sculptured in marble on 
its sides, such as the Crowning of Louis of Bavaria at Milan, 
and the taking of towns and cities ; in which the little 
figures are very natural, distinct and elegant, and are worthy 
of the best days of art. 

We saw the house where Petrarch was born in the Borgo 
delFOrto, a small street near the cathedral, as we were 
informed by a lengthy inscription put on the outside of the 
house in 1810. 

The elegant Church of the Badia of Santa Flora offers one 
of those cupolas of architectural painting, extraordinary for 
perspective, by the famous P. Pozzi. In the ancient refectory 
of the cloister the Banquet of Ahasuerus, a vast composition 
by Yasari, given by him to his natal town, and containing his 
portrait under the guise of an old man with a long beard, is 
one of the few works which would have immortalized the 
artist's name had he been wise enough to paint less. 

The Hall of the Ahasuerus, the place where the sittings 
of the Arezzo Academy of Art, Sciences, and Literature are 
held, has taken the title of Petrarca. 



PECULIAR INN. — GARDEN OF ITALY. 241 



Under the advantage of an unusually long twilight, which 
prolonged the glories of a superbly rich and particularly bril- 
liant Italian sky, we continued to travel on until we arrived at 
the post-town of Poggio Bagnano that night. The inn was 
somewhat peculiar in having the stable under the parlor and 
dining-room, a matter of little consequence to us, who at the 
hour of midnight, arrived too much fatigued to allow ourselves 
the privilege of being annoyed by the neighings of the horses 
and animals, which were in-stalled beneath our bedroom. 

XX. 

About eight, on the next morning, we followed the banks 
of the Arno, on our road to the Capitol, which was pleasantly 
varied by the several towns of Monte Yarchi, San Giovanni, 
and Filigne. We took a lunch at Monte Incisa, where the 
Arno is crossed by a bridge, which throws its graceful span 
quite picturesquely over the waters. The first view of Flo- 
rence, on our approach by the gate of St. Nicolas, was mag- 
nificent ; and, as the majestic dome of the cathedral loomed 
upward through the forest of the Campanillas which surrounded 
it, it seemed to hang like a hemisphere in free suspension, and, 
poised by the equilibrium of its own noble gravity and solemn 
repose, it appeared to float like a dream over this beautiful 
vision of the garden of Italy. 



FLORENCE. 



** But Arno wins us to the fair white walls, 

Where the Etrurian Athens claims and keeps 
A softer feeling for her fairy halls. 
Girt by her theatre of hills, she reaps 
Her corn, and wine, and oil, and plenty leaps 
To laughing life, with her redundant horn. 

Along the banks where smiling Arno sweeps 
Was modern Luxury of Commerce born. 
And buried Learning rose, redeem'd to a new morn." 

The approach to Florence and its environs, displays a forci- 
ble expression of Italy — the Italy of letters and art. Nature 
there appears brilliant and ornate ; the cultivation is perfect, 
and every eminence is studded with charming villas, inter- 
spersed with clumps of olive trees — which are no less typical 
of beauty and abundance than the prototype of the natural 
and indigenous flowers of her gardens — ^from which, through 
Fiori, she herself partook of the name of Florence. 

We shall never forget the first sight of the noble dome of 
the glorious old Cathedral of Santa Maria di Fiori — rivaling 
St. Paul's in magnitude, and suggesting to Michael Angelo 
the more superb idea of his dome at St. Peter's — as we stood, 
on the evening of our first day, in Florence, and gazed upon 
its form, from the Baptistery, in the Piazza. It seemed as if 
we had taken a flight into the medieval epoch of Art and 



GALAXY OF GENIUS. 243 



History, there to be in Florence, still mindful of the period 
of htr commercial greatness — that great city, which proved in 
tlie brilliant reign of the Medici family, that Republics could 
foster Art with glory, and excel in Literature and Poetry ; 
and that, too, when wars were raging and devastating the 
country about her, and pestilence devouring her people and 
her strength. 

If Florence may be called the capital of the Middle Ages, 
the Palazzo Yecchio, its frowning, solid, picturesque old palace 
— which was erected at the close of the thirteenth century, in 
the days of its prosperity, ornamented with the escutcheons of 
its different governors, painted in fresco under the battlements, 
and surmounted by its bell and lofty belfry — is singularly 
characteristic of its prowess and renown. 



Perhaps, after Rome, one of the most interesting cities in 
Italy is Florence ; and it is, certainly, second to none in those 
rich and sublime specimens of art which deck her palaces and 
churches. Her peculiar charms spring from that illustrious 
period in her history which centred in the ages of the Medici 
and Leo X., the glory of whose rule was immortalized by 
that brilliant cortege of genius and talent which adorned their 
courts, and embracing some of the most celebrated names that 
have ever surrounded the reign of any earthly monarch, 
gathered in the galaxy of its brightness a band of artists, 
philosophers, statesmen, poets, historians, and conquerors, such 
as have seldom combined to illuminate the splendors of any 
age, or to cast renown over the annals of any kingdom. 



-Here repose 



Angelo's, Alfieri bones, and his, 



244 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AXD THE DOGE. 

The starry Galileo, mth his woes ; 

Here Machiavelli's earth return'd to whence it rose." 

"These are four minds, which, like the elements. 
Might furnish forth creation." 

Here also lived the three Etruscans — Dante, Petrarch, and 
Boccacio — "whose names alone were mausoleums of the Muse," 
and the presence of whose glorious works still exists among 
the attractions of the city. In fact, the memories of her former 
glories charm no less than the natural beauty of Italy ; and 
Florence, " la bella cittd" abounds in monuments of her past 
renown. She is the cabinet treasure-house of her middle-age's 
wonders, and her old Ducal Palace frowns yet with the same 
grand and gloomy aspect of the olden times. Her works 
of art recall the genius and school of Raphael — the forcible 
power of Angelo ; her tower of Galileo still points to the 
greatness of his fame, and the brilliant discoveries in Astro- 
nomy ; and her Cathedral — the work of three hundred years 
of progress — marks the epoch of her height, her arrogance, 
and her decline. 

III. 

The legend of her origin is no less beautiful than her name, 
which almost seems to have issued from the "Jlowers^' of her 
fields ; for, in the traditions of her poetry it is held that Fiesoli 
was the cradle of Florence. This, one of the numerous Tuscan 
towns which were always lodged on the declivity of a moun- 
tain, for the better security of the location, and from an eco- 
nomical disposition in the early inhabitants to leave the plains 
entirely open to agricultural purposes, was the early introducer 
of the future capital of Tuscany. In ancient times, the people, 
naturally descending to the level country in order to dispose 



HISTORICAL LEGExVD. 245 



of tlieir various wares and merchandises, and finding it incon- 
venient to return to the interior after night-fall, began by 
establishing booths, or places, for shelter or repose, which were 
soon converted into lodging-houses, and these, in due com. 
of time, accumulated into villages ; and this situation being 
esteemed favorable, from the salubrity of the ah' and the delights 
of the climate, it rapidly advanced in size and importance. 
At length the village was transferred from the mountain- 
side to the plain, and finally became Florence — a name which, 
as we have said before, was derived from "Jlori, i. e.Jlowers" 
and was exceedingly appropriate, from the rich character of 
the soil, and its own flourishing condition. Its present 
position, surrounded by an amphitheatre of beautifully undu- 
lating hills, whose sides are dotted over with the white cubes 
of innumerable villas and country-seats, and whose garden- 
grounds are richly cultivated, with every variety of shade and 
fruit-trees, the boughs of which are often interlaced and bound 
together by festoons of hanging vines and graperies, render 
the coup de mdl, from any prominent point of vision, one of 
the most picturesque and delightful that can be conceived or 
painted. These views, its own lovely climate and beautiful 
skies, its proximity to the sea, and charming position as the 
centre of Italy, united to the happiness of her people, who are 
gently swayed by the parental authority of an amiable 
sovereign, combine to render Florence one of the most agree- 
able places of sojoui'u in Europe. 



The present Grand-Duke has contributed much to advance 
his own security and the prosperity of his subjects, by a 
proper attention to the irrigation of her fertile lands, by the 



246 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

fatherly administration of his government ; and in the late 
reforms, he has always yielded to a sense of the necessity 
of all prudent and conservative innovations : for he has 
chosen rather to consider his duties to be such, as relate 
to the happiness of a family whose head he is, than to 
exercise the stern prerogatives of royalty on his people, 
as if they were only fit objects for an arbitrary and despotic 
rule. 

Fiesole has nothing left to it but its prospects, ruins, 
churches, and picturesque convent ; but Florence remains 
still more beautiful from the Past, and, gathering around it 
the memories of its departed greatness, will ever live in the 
praises of mankind, as long as there is nature in her fields 
or art in her galleries. 

PALAZZO VECCHIO. 
V. 

The various rebuildings and renovations of this gloomy 
old palace, with its high tower of the Barberia, looming fear- 
fully and grandly up, and overtopping the roofs of the neigh- 
boring houses, would somewhat surprise the architect, Aruolfo 
di Lapo, and his art-successors ; for such changes have been 
made in their original designs, that they would not be able to 
recognize their own works, should they again revisit the 
earth. An incident connected with its first construction, 
gives us an idea of the passions and influence of the Florentine 
democracy of that time : — When the foundations were being 
laid, the people would not allow them to extend over the 
ground defiled by the houses, of the Uberti and other factious 
persons, demolished by the populace who had also expelled 



ANGELS AS MASONS. 24t 



the owners, detested as nobles and Ghibilines ; and the sym- 
metry of this palace of the Seignory, who had ordered its 
erection, was sacrificed to such a desire. 

Immediately after crossing the threshold of this stern 
palace, one is struck with an agreeable contrast frequently 
met with in the interior of other Florentine palaces. The 
portico is formed of columns of stucco, with a gold ground ; 
the ceilings are covered with arabesques of Raphael's school ; 
and a porphyry fountain, of most elegant architecture, rises 
in the centre of the court. The masons, who then were repair- 
ing the immense council-chamber, executed by Cronaca, fur- 
ther reminded us of the republican manners of the State, 
when a thousand citizens deliberated there on public affairs. 
Such was the rapidity with which this spacious hall was con- 
structed, that it was said, "the angels aided as masons." 

The arched roof and the two great walls were covered with 
easy paintings by Yasari, representing the war with Pisa on 
one side, and that against Siena on the other. There are 
several remarkable statues in the Hall: — Cosmo, the Father of 
his Country ; an Adam and Eve, by Bandinelli, and an un- 
finished Victory, by Michael Angelo, which was to have made 
part of the Mausoleum of Julius II. 

VI. 

On the site of the tower called Barheria, the imprisoned 
Cosmo, found in Malavolti, the most honorable and delicate 
of all jailors mentioned in history, as his prisoner affection- 
ately embraced him as an acknowledgment of his kind treat- 
ment. It was in this narrow space, says Machiavel, that he 
heard the assembled people, the clashing of arms in the 
square, and the bell that convoked the hnlia, a kind of com- 



248 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

monalty of Florence, enough to make him tremble for his life. 
The several apartments of the old palace, each bearing the 
device of a Medici, are painted in fresco by Vasari and his 
school, among which the following may be distinguished : — 
Cosmo, the Father of his Country, departing into exile ; his Re- 
turn to Florence, in the midst of the people, women, and 
children, carrying olive branches, and strewing the streets 
with flowers. 

The door of the Hall of Audience, adorned with figures, 
ornaments, and excellent mosaics in wood by Benedetto di 
Maiana, is magnificent. Instead of arms, escutcheons, and 
other usual signs of vanity, the first magistrates of Florence 
had the portraits of Petrarch and Dante painted on the fold- 
ing doors, a just homage rendered to the first writers of the 
Italian tongue, and suitable embellishments for the place 
where these magistrates received the Florentine people. 

VII. 

On the ceiling of one of the four rooms composing the 
apartment of the Grand Dutchess Eleonora, wife of Cosmo I., 
John Stradan, a painter of Brages, had well represented in 
oil, the virtuous and almost unknown action of the fair Gaul- 
drada. 

The emperor Otho lY. having come to Florence at the 
festival of St. John, was struck with the exceeding beauty of 
the daughter of Messer Bellincione Berti de' Ravignani, 
seated in the circle of ladies, and asked to whom she be- 
longed. Messer Bellincione, who stood near the emperor, 
having answered before the courtiers that she was the daugh- 
ter of a man who would permit the emperor to kiss her, the 
young Florentine rose and indignantly replied — " Father, be 



THE FAIR GUALDRADA. 249 



less liberal in your promises respecting me, for I will never be 
kissed but by my lawful lord." Otho, charmed with this 
virtuous answer, immediately called one of his barons, Guido 
Xovello by name, made him a Count, endowed him with 
Casenthio and a part of Romagno, and presented him as a 
husband to the daughter of the unscrupulous Messer Bellin- 
cione. They began the line of the Counts Guidi, one of 
whose descendants, (their own valiant nephew Guido Guerra,) 
Dante has placed in his Inferno for the crime of sodomy : — 
" Nepote fu della buona Gualdi-ada." 

VIII. 

At the entrance of the old palace, are the two celebrated 
colossal statues, Hercules Slaying Cacus, by Bandinelli, and 
Michael Angelo's David. Despite the exaggerations of Ban- 
danelli's Hercules, the grouping of the figures is grand ; the 
joining of the neck and body in the figure of Cacus is regarded 
as admirable ; and Michael Angelo, even, to whom a mould 
of it had been sent to Rome, agreed that it was very fine. 

The David, v/hich the chisel of Michael Angelo drew out of 
the enormous block of Carrera marble, where it had Ip.in hid 
nearly a century, is the first specimen of his style so terribly 
grand. Michael Angelo's patriotism induced him to leave the 
brilliant and lucrative woxk of the "Vatican to undertake it. 
It is easy to conceive that, with such a position, and with the 
consciousness of his own superiority, the superb young artist 
behaved with so little ceremony to the Senator Pietro Sode- 
rini, then gonfalionier, w^ho had found the nose too large ; 
he feigned to retouch it, and with the other hand threw into 
the eyes of the first magistrate of the Republic a cloud of 
marble-dnst enough to blind him. 



250 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

The impetuosity with which Michael Angelo executed his 
statues, even in his old age, has been often remarked ; he 
lopped off enormous quarters of marble with his chisel ; one 
might have said that, having discovered the figure he had 
imagined, he fiercely struggled against the block which re- 
sisted his efforts. 

IX. 

The Piazza of the Grand Duke, before the old palace, has 
not the extent of some squares in great capitals, resembling 
fields or plains, with pavement, posts, and carriages ; but it is 
rich in wonders of art. Beside the Hercules and David, is 
the superb fountain of Ammanato, one of the grandest compo- 
sitions of modern sculpture, and the artist's best. The light- 
ness of this colossal Xeptune, drawn by four horses, is ex- 
treme ; the Tritons, and other little sea-deities, in bronze, are 
exquisitely wrought. The statue of Cosmo I., by Giovanni 
Bologna, is a noble and harmonious monument. The basso- 
relievos on the pedestal are excellent ; one of the minor figures 
on the pedestal is a portrait of the dwarf at the Court of 
Tuscany. 

THE LOGGIA. 
X. 

The Loggia de!Lanzi d^Orgagna, a prime monument of 
the history of the art, is the chief ornament of the Piazza 
of the Grand Duke, and may safely be called the finest 
portico in the world. The elegance and solidity of the con- 
struction, with the grandeur and good taste of the arcades, 
are much admired. Althouprh the Corinthian columns evince 



THE LOGGIA. THE JTDITH. 251 

the barbarism of the time, such is the merit of the sculpture 
and cornices, that they seem in perfect keeping. Cosmo I., 
afterwards wishing to complete the embellishment of the 
piazza, applied to Michael Angelo for a plan ; and his answer 
was, that nothing better could be done than continuing Or- 
gagna's work. Architect, sculptor, painter, poet, this great 
and prolific Tuscan artist of the fourteenth century, seems 
himself a premature Michael Angelo. Orgagna seems to have 
prided himself on the yariety of his talents, and to have been 
anxious that posterity should not forget them. For this 
cause, he never omitted inscribing his name on his paintings : — 
" Orgagna, sculptor " and on his sculptures, " Orgagna, pictor." 
From the arcades of the Loggia, the ancient rostra of the 
Florentine, the people, convoked by the old palace bell, were 
harangued. There the installation of the gonfalonier took 
place ; the generals received the baton of command, and 
citizens the knightly insignia. Thence, too, the decrees of 
the government were promulgated. These noble arcades took 
the name they still retain, when they were only the quarters 
of the lancers of Cosmo's Guard. This Loggia is ornamented 
with superb statues. 

XI. 

The Judith of Donatello, which has rather the air of a 
novice, sword in hand, whose reputation was heightened by 
political events, passed from the palace of the cowardly tyrant 
Pietro de Medici, after his flight, before the entry of Charles 
YIII. ; and, erected in the Loggia of the Seignory Palace, it 
became an allegory and a public monument of the deliver- 
ance of Florence ; and the following impressive words were 
then inscribed and are still visible : — " Eremplum saht. pull. 



262 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

cives posuere MCCCCXCV. ; a popular menace, which never 
disturbed the paternal governments of the Grand Dftkes of 
Tuscany. 

XII. 

The Perseus^ a master-piece of Benvenuto Cellini, though 
somewhat elaborate, is a fine statue. When we recollect 
the circumstances attending its casting, the spirit with which 
the artist, exhausted with fatigue, parched up with fever, 
leaped from his bed to continue and hasten the melting of the 
bronze, into which he threw all the pewter vessels of his 
household ; his devout and fervent prayer ; his sudden cure, 
and his joyous repast with all his men — this statue becomes a 
sort of action, reflecting the manners of the time, and the 
character of the extraordinary man that executed it. On the 
pedestal are four excellent small figures, in bronze. Below 
one of these four little chefs-cVauvrt, the statue of Jupiter, 
standing erect, ready to launch his thunderbolts, are inscribed 
these words : — " Te fill, si qibis laserit, ultor ero^' — " I will 
have revenge of any one who may injure thee, my son !" — 
an inscription which seems as suitable to the violent artist 
as to the god. 

XIII. 

The bold group of the Rape of a Sabine, by Giovanni Bo- 
logna, is, in reality, little more than an ale-house scene — a 
husband knocked down, and a soldier running away with his 
wife. Such, however, is the power of the beautiful — ever 
pure, grave, serious, be the subject what it may — that these 
great stark-naked figures are neither indecent nor ludicrous. 

The appearance of this group was hailed with rapturous 
acclamations throughout Italy, though not universally so, if 



LION. MARZOCCO. 253 



we refer the question to the curious gentleman, (English, of 
course,) who, having travelled on horseback from Rome to 
Florence, for the purpose of seeing it, approached the Loggia, 
and, without dismounting, turned his horse to go back, ex- 
claiming, " Is that the thing they make so much noise about V^ 
^^Questa dunque la cosa cli cui si fa tanto ehiassoV It is 
probable that this connoisseur could not see, from his horse, 
the superb bronze basso-relievo on the pedestal, the Ka'^e, of a 
Sabine. 

XIV. 

The Lion of the Loggia, by Yacca, a studious imitator of 
the ancients, is worthy of the Greek chisel, and was the finest 
production of modern Italy, until Canova's celebrated Lions. 
The lion with the lily composes the arms of Florence, and 
is not less ancient. At the left angle of the old palace, 
and on the steps of its front, there still stands a little old 
sta^tue of a lion, in stone, called Marzocco, a popular nick- 
name for thick-headed persons. 

Among the six antique colossal statues of women, inside 
the Loggia, representing the Priestesses of Romulus, there is 
one with her hand raised to her face, which has an admirable 
expression of sadness and melancholy. 

Two of the first monuments of the Piazza of the Grand- 
Duke — the group of the Sabine, and Cosmo's statue — are 
the works of a Flemish sculptor, the cleverest of Michael 
Angelo's pupils. The Uguccioni Palace, built on a superb 
design, appears, decidedly by Raphael ; for it is altogether 
in the style of other palaces at Rome, recognized as his 
works. 

Florence, distinguished by so many famous artists, has 
seen foreign masters, from distant countries, come and devote 



254 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 



their talents to its service, and in a manner naturalize 
themselves there, as if it were the metropolis of glory and 
genius. 

UFFIZ J. 
XV. 

The XJffizj, now the picture-gallery, though at first intended 
for the magistrates of Florence, who still occupy part of the 
ground-floor, is an edifice of good architecture, which does 
honor to the talent of the builders, Yasari and Buontalenti. 
The three corridors and the twenty chambers of the galleries 
have not the imposing coup d'ceuil of the gallery of the 
Louvre. Placing statues, busts, and basso-relievos, between 
the windows, does not seem a very happy arrangement, as 
one-half is in a wrong light ; and the small locked-up rooms 
are more like cabinets of curiosities than the halls of an im- 
perial museum. The paintings of the three corridors are the 
least remarkable, though several are by great masters. One 
is so surrounded by the multitude of beautiful subjects which 
adorn the corridors, that it is impossible to attain more than 
to a selection during the first visit. Among the statues, are 
the famous Wild Boar, in the second vestibule, admirable for 
its truth and style ; the Two Dogs, barking, that seem to 
guard the museum ; the most complete collection of emperors' 
busts ; the graceful group of Cujpid and Psyche; and the 
celebrated copy of the Laocoon, by Bandenelli, affected and 
formal, which the artist presumptuously vaunted, was better 
than the original — a boast which drew upon him Michael 
Angelo's sarcastic reply, so applicable to all kinds of trans- 
lators and imitators, '' That he uho follows in anoth^rh steps, 



VENUS DI MEDICI. 255 



cannot very well get before him ;" as well as Titian's caricature, 
executed in wood, by Nicliolao Boldrini, which exhibited a 
large monkey and two smaller ones, embraced in the coils 
of two serpents like the group. 

XYI. 

One never tires while beholding the fine outlines of the city's 
edifices, as they rise on both sides of the Arno, whenever your 
walks lead you by the path of the bridges, and your fancy 
floats between the combined creations of Art and Xature, 
fostering fit frame of mind for an introduction to the Gallery 
of the TJfiBzj, wherein the ablest masters have left their imita- 
tive types of what was pleasing in one, and most striking in 
the other. 

TThilst walking through these avenues of statues, the boast 
of their own age, and models for the artists of our own, one is 
rather apt to be lost in musicgs over the true philosophy of 
Art, for one almost grieves that the golden period of man's 
beatitudes has rolled away in the perfection of its own com- 
pleted cycle, were it not that Hope still whispers flattering 
fortunes of its recovery, and Faith, the strong anchorage of 
genius, fosters a belief in inspirations of a diviner nature, 
when the age of reality will take the place of the plastic 
semblance and shadows, in that purer Age of Truth, when 
genius will strive to perfect the images of the heart, and the 
earnest birthright of the spirit of love will ripen, into grace, 
every beautiful conception of the soul of man. 

XVII. 

What a treasury of enjoyment is gathered up in the cele- 
brated Trihuna of the Florence Gallery, which strikes the 



256 THE LAND OF THE CAESAR AND THE DOGE. 



visitor on Ms entrance as the sanctuary of the Arts ! A mys- 
terious light reigns therein ; the cupola is incrusted with 
mother-of-pearl — the pavement with precious marbles ; and it 
unites some of the greatest master-pieces of ancient sculpture 
and painting. 

" There stands the statue which enchants the world." 
The Venus, of Cleomenes, set in the middle, seems the di- 
vinity of the sanctuary. 

•' There, too, the Goddess loves in stone, and fills 
The air around with beauty ; we inhale 
The ambrosial aspect, which beheld, instills 
Part of its immortality ; the veil 
Of heaven is half undrawn ; within the pale 
We stand, and in that form and face behold 
What Mind can make, when Nature's self would fail." 

This Yenus seems just to have issued from the berth of her 
ocean-home, and looks the shrinking beauty of a mythological 
modesty — ^for it is certainly not maiden modesty, which some 
good people have wished to discover in the goddess of Gnidus — 
however impossible it is not to admire the voluptuous form of 
this, the most perfect type of ancient art, and which still 
stands unsurpassed, aye, the unequaled model for sculptors. 

It may be studied in every posture and in every light, and 
its lines of grace and beauty are so exquisitely drawn that 
the eye revels under the fascinating influences of its charms, 
whilst the mind fills with those delicate emotions of gently-un- 
dulating thoughts, as pure as light fusing through the rose 
leaves, or the play of prismatic colors through the clear glist 
of the limpid crystal ; so consonant is the idea of purity with 
the beautiful in art and nature, and so constituted is that 
admiration which arises from the contemplation of the purest 



ROTATOR, OR WHETTER. 25 1 

embodiments of inspiration, that nothing earthly or material 
can exist between the first intentions of noble designs or con- 
ceptions, and their happy and perfect execution as they pass 
fi'om their fountains in thought to their life of action and 
vivid expression. 

XVIII. 

*' There he more things to greet the heart and eyes 
In Arno's dome of Art's most princely shrine. 
Where Sculpture with her rainbow- sister vies ; 
There he more marvels yet." 

The four other antique chefs-d'oBuvre^ are the little Apollo, 
perhaps the most perfect model of the graceful ideal ; the Ro- 
tator, or Wketter, so true and natural, seems decidedly the 
Scythian slave whetting his knife, who was ordered by Apollo 
to flay Marsyas ; the group of the Wrestlers, unique in its 
kind, and admirable for vigor, precision, and anatomical skill ; 
and the Faun, gay, animated, lightsome, the head and arms 
of which were very cleverly restored by Michael Angelo. 

It must be owned that the scarcity of Michael Angelo's 
easel-pieces makes nearly all the merit of his Virgin, with the 
infant Jesus and St. Joseph. M. Angelo disdained painting 
in oil as "a woman's occupation, only fit for idlers and per- 
sons with nothing to do" — " Arte da donne, e da personn£ 
agiate ed infingarde." 

XIX. 

How admirable and flesh-like are the pleasing forms of 
Titian's two Yenuses, especially the one holding the flowers, 
which is truly sublime in coloring — the voluptuous languor of 
her features wonderfully expresses the vague passion of a 
young woman. These two great Yenuses of a beauty so 



258 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

blooming and real, the antique Venus, and the elegant furni- 
ture of the Tribuna, give this cabinet an aspect not over 
decent ; one might call it a public boudoir. 

Of six paintings by Raphael, five are immortal chefs-d^-(suvre, 
differing in kind ; the two Holy Families ; the St. John in the, 
Desert, vigorous and inspired — but time has darkened the land- 
scape too much ; the graceful FornariTia, with an air of power- 
ful, irresistible beauty; and the portrait of Julius II., a powerful 
expression of the strength of mind and genius of that Pontiff. 
''It frightens one," said Yasari, "just as if he was living." 

Charles V. after his Abdication, by Vandyck, is a fine 
portrait composition ; he is riding on horseback, on the beach 
of an agitated sea ; in the absence of the storms of the world, 
which he regrets, he seems to seek and contemplate those of 
the ocean. The Virgin adoring the Infant Jesus, is reckoned 
the best of the four paintings by Correggio. Herodias re- 
ceiving the Head of St. John Baptist, by Leonardo da Yinci, 
offers a dreadful contrast of joy to that of the dancer and the 
grinning headsman. 

It would be a useless task to enumerate the ten thousand 
paintings of the other galleries. Every school is well repre- 
sented in the Florentine of Art. There is, besides, a good 
collection of ancient and modern bronzes, and also several fine 
statues and torsos in the antique room, among which is the 
terrible colossal head of Alexander Dying, which inspired 
Alfieri with a fine sonnet, and was taken at the moment when 
he bemoans his fate as a monarch forsaken by the gods. 

XX. 

One would say that Dante had visited the Hall of Niobe, 
created in the last century, when he exclaims, at the sight of 



NIOBE. DYING CHILD. 259 



the finely-sculptured figures that he found on the road to Pur- 
gatory— 

*' Niobe, con che occhi dolenti 
Veder' io te segnata in su la strada 
Tra sette e sette tuoi figliuoli spenti !" 

— Purgat. XII. 37. 
" Wherein the agony of her own suffering is forgotten in her mo- 
ther's protection of her children." 

The ancients disserted much less on the passions than we 
do, but there is profound and manifold truth in their manner 
of expressing them. The pain of Niobe is not the same as in 
the Laocoon ; the horror-struck mother covers her daughters, 
regardless of the shafts which menace her. The priest of 
Apollo struggles to free himself as well as his sons ; his rack- 
ing pains have something of menace ; Mobe's is tender, artless, 
and, despite her anguish, always noble and ideal. After Niobe, 
the Dying Child is, perhaps, the most remarkable statue of 
this great, pathetic scene. 

XXI. 

In the Hall of Portraits, the collection of painter's portraits 
contains the autographs of their own likenesses, and is curious 
from this custom — that when this species of Pantheon gets too 
crowded, the poorest are sent to some of the Grand Duke's 
villas. The sight of these mute countenances of artists once 
celebrated, causes a real emotion. Noble features are gene- 
rally found to accompany superior genius, and there is a 
harmony between the respective talents and physiognomies of 
the painters. For instance, Titian, with his strong expression ; 
Leonardo Yinci, the finest portrait of the whole, full of gran- 



260 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

deur and majesty ; Paul Yeroneso, brilliant, magnificent ; 
Michael Angelo, gloomy, harsh ; Andrea del Sarto, chaste, 
easy, and uninspired, &c. 

XXII. 

In the centre of this apartment is the famous Medici Yase, 
on which the sacrifice of Iphigenia is sculptured. Agamemnon 
has a veil over his head, but it does not cover his face as those 
of Timanthus, and a basso-relievo in Grecian style, sculptured 
on a puteal of this same gallery. 

The works of eminent writers have made amateurs sufii- 
ciently acquainted with the fine collection of articles composing 
the Florence cabinet of medals, consisting of fifteen hundred, 
which are judiciously classified. The collection of Cameos, an- 
cient as well as modern, the principal pieces of which may be 
seen in the two publications of the Florence gallery, is the 
richest known, and amounts to more than four thousand. 

THEDUOMO. 
XXIII. 

Santa Maria del Fiore, the Duomo of Florence — one of the 
most remarkable edifices in Europe, and the first great church 
built free from the Gothic taste, though not altogether in the 
ancient — is also the work of Arnolfo di Lapo, the architect of 
the Palazzo Yecchio. On reflecting that at this very epoch 
the seignory had the city surrounded by a third wall, the 
baptistery covered with marble, and the granary, called the 
St. MichaeVs Tower, erected, one is forcibly struck with the 
number and splendor of such undertakings. The grand and 
beautiful monuments of Florence date from the republic, for 



WELLS FOR EARTHQUAKES. 261 

the Medici themselves constructed no building but the much 
less solid one of the Uffi,zi. The law of the Florentine Re- 
public, which orders the reconstruction of the temple, is alike 
noble in its language as it is honorable to the architect who 
was appointed. Arnolfo di Lapo, one of the great men of 
modern architecture, was worthy the choice of his fellow- 
citizens of the thirteenth century. Deep wells were dug 
within the building to counteract the accredited effects of 
earthquakes, attributed by the public opinion of the time to 
currents of subterranean water. According to tradition, the 
artist is said to have thus proudly addressed his monument : — 
'' I have preserved thee from earthquakes — may GOD preserve 
thee from lightning I'' 

XXIV. 

This noble Church attracts more, the oftener it is visited, 
and one can only obtain a just idea of its magnitude by walk- 
ing entirely round its circumference, by which alone the ad- 
mirable effects of its rich marble casing can duly be embraced. 
Although the work was never interrupted, Santa Maria del 
Fiore was a hundred and sixty years in building, and, conse- 
quently, exhibits the progress, improvement, and decline of 
art, under the successive efforts of Arnolfo's followers, who 
were Giotto, Orgagna, Filippi, and lastly, Brunelleschi, whose 
prodigious cupola, the model of St. Peter's at Rome, is the 
master-piece. The most glorious homage this cupola has re- 
ceived is that of Michael Angelo, who marked out himself the 
place of his own tomb, in Santa Croce, in such a manner that, 
when the doors were open, one could see from thence the 
daring monument which his lofty independent genius had imi- 
tated. The Duomo is visible from every point in Florence. 



262 THE LAND OF THE CJESAR AND THE DOGE. 

Brunelleschi exhibited that versatility of talent which was not 
uncommon with the artists of his age — architect, sculptor, 
painter, goldsmith, clock-maker, and geometrician ; he was 
also an orator of no mean merit, if we may judge from the 
discourse which he delivered at one of the conferences, pre- 
vious to the construction of the cupola. Day by day he 
directed his workmen, and examined the quality of the ma- 
terials present ; and when the cupola was complete, except 
the exterior of the drum and lantern, he died on the scene of 
his exertions. 

Though without a front, Santa Maria presents an extremely 
noble and harmonious aspect ; the marble of various colors, 
with which the whole building is lined, produces the most bril- 
liant effects. 

XXV. 

On entering the church, one is struck with the beauty and 
brilliancy of the pavement, and the various-colored marble — 
a charming performance, by an unknown author — which seems 
like a garden enameled with flowers. Such a decoration is 
worthy the Church del Fiore, and the Cathedral of Florence, 
one of the cities of Europe where the luxury of flowers is 
carried to the highest pitch, and which retains the lily in its 
arms. The lily was at first white, afterwards red ; this 
change, the consequence of revolutions, is regretted by Dante — 

" Non era ad asta mai posto a ritroso clie'l giglio 
Ne per divisione fatto vermiglio." 

The lily is sa.id to have always grown wild in the vale of 
Florence. It still flourishes there, and sometimes may be 
seen shooting out of old walls, like our gilliflowers. 

The Duomo has some illustrious tombs ; such is Brunel- 
leschi's ; the sepulchre of his family was at St. Mark's ; he 



GREEN-HUED FRESCOES. 263 



has been most properly buried within the walls that so loudly 
proclaim his glory. The tomb of Giotto, the restorer of 
painting, is beside it, with a bust and the mausoleum of 
Misilio Ficino, the first and the most intelligent interpreter of 
Plato, whose tomb was erected by the State. These three 
neighboring monuments — a just tribute to architecture, paint- 
ing, and philosophy — singularly honor Florence, setting it 
forth as the real cradle of the arts and philosophy, and 
showing how deeply we are indebted to that city. 

XXVI. 

The vast paintings of the Cupola, by Yasari and Frederico 
Zuecari, chiefly taken from the Divina Commedia, presenting 
above three hundred figures, are more extravagant than 
grand, and strike solely from their size. These figures are 
fifty feet high — Lucifer's is even much larger ; and, as Zuecari 
says, "si smisurata, che fa jparelel e altre figure di bamiini" — 
" so enormous, that the others are made to appear like babies." 

Uccello's bold paintings, on the green-hued frescoes of the 
tomb of Sir John Hawkswood — an English condottiere, who, 
with his company, passed from the Pisan to the Florentine 
service — reminds you of a jest of the captain's, quaintly told 
by Sacchieti : — " Two lay brothers, who went to see him at 
his chateau near Cortona, gave him this pious salutation, — 
* God grant thee peace I' — ' Dio vi dia la pace P To which 
Hawkswood replied, ' God take away your charity I' — * Dio vi 
tolga la vostra elemosina P The monks were rather puzzled at 
this answer, and asked him its meaning. 'IVon sapete che io 
vivo di guerra,^ said he, 'e che la pace mi farehhe morir di 
fameV — 'Don't you know that I live by war,' said Sir John, 
' and that peace would make me die of hunger V " 



264 THE LAND OF THE C-ESAR AND THE DOGE. 

XXVII. 

Against the wall, near the door in the side nave, is an old 
painting by an unknown author, apparently of the time, re- 
presenting Dante standing, in a red gown, with a laurel 
crown over his cap, and holding an open book in his hand. 
The physiognomy is expressive of kindness and good nature. 
On one side is a view of ancient Florence, on the other, an 
allusion to the three parts of his poem, with a singular inscrip- 
tion, by the poet and scholar Salutati, terminating with — 

" Nil potuit tanto mors sgeva nocere poetoe, 
Quem vivum virtus, carmen, imago facit." 

This worthless monument is the only one erected by the Flo- 
rentine Republic to the man who had thrown so great a lustre 
on his country. 

XXVIII. 

The choir, in marble, executed by the order of Cosmo I., 
and ornamented with eighty-eight figures in basso-relievos, by 
Bandenelli and his pupil Giovanni dell'Opera, is admirable. 
No one has been able to explain what these superb figures 
are intended to represent ; and they are probably the crea- 
tions of the author's fancy. Behind the high altar is Michael 
Angelo's last work, a pathetic Piety, an unfinished group, 
brought from Rome, and intended by the author for his tomb, 
which he proposed preparing at St. Mary Major. The very 
simple inscription alluding to this subject is extremely 
touching, as it marks the close of the glorious life and in- 
defatigable old age of this great man. The celebrated Piety 
of St. Peter's was one of the earliest works of Michael An- 
gelo's youth. It is remarkable to see this stern genius begin 
and end his career with a subject so tender and soothing. 



THE CAMPANILE. 265 



XXIX. 

The celebrated gnomon of the Duomo was reckoned by La- 
lande the greatest astronomical instrument in the world. 
This fine meridian was traced as early as 1468 by the Floren- 
tine physician, philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, 
Paolo Toscanelli, a man of searching, innovating spirit ; he 
corresponded with Columbus, and his scientific researches 
were of great service to that navigator ; in fact, his grand 
discovery w^as indirectly due to Toscanelli, who had persuaded 
him to try the western passage to India. 

The fine door leading to the sacristy, ornamented with 
several compartments, with bronze carvings, is admirable, and 
remarkable as being the one which afforded a sanctuary to 
one of the Medici, flying from the murder of his brother, and 
which were generously closed upon him by Politian, a man 
whose courage equaled his talent. In this church one has an 
opportunity of seeing how poorly adapted are octagonals for 
domes, and how much more objectionable they are rendered 
by indifl'erently bad paintings ! 

XXX. 

The Campanile of the Duomo of Florence, of the German 
Gothic architecture, was erected by Giotto. After more 
than five centuries, this wonderful structure so highly adorned, 
so brilliant and light, the first of steeples and finest of towers, 
still stands firm and upright, a remarkable fact in a country 
where more than one leaning tower shows the unstable nature 
of the soil ; which clearly proves that this creator of modern 
painting was no less skilled in the art of building. Charles 
T. so greatly admired the Campanile, that he would have 
liked to put it under a glass cover that it might only be 



266 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

seen on certain days ; and Politian has sung its praises in 
Greek and Latin verse. " Fine as the Campanile,^^ is a favo- 
rite simile of the Florentines, who, like the inhabitants of all 
other Italian cities, are proud of their monuments. 

XXXI. 

The Church of St. John, formerly a cathedral and after- 
wards a baptistery, was first founded in the sixth century by 
the amiable Queen Theodolinda, when Tuscany was subject 
to the Lombards. The doors and bronzes of St. John are re- 
garded as the finest in the world. 

Michael Angelo declared that the middle door by Ghiberti 
was fit to be the gate of paradise. '' Ghiberti," said he, on 
another occasion to a friend, in justification of his celibacy, 
" left an immense property and many heirs ; but who would 
now know that he ever existed, if he had not made the doors 
of the baptistery ? His wealth is dissipated, his children are 
dead, yet his bronze doors are still standing." The two 
superb doors of St. John were ordered by the seigniory and 
heads of the Merchants' Confraternity, after the cessation of 
the dreadful plague of 1400, to embellish the temple of the 
protector of Florence. The finest monuments in Italy are 
in most cases connected with religious or patriotic motives. 
Such works, and the erection of the Duomo, with the superb 
Temples of Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, and the Holy 
Ghost, commanded at the same epoch by this small commer- 
cial state, amid wars, calamities and seditions, are splendid 
testimonies of the Florentine taste and genius for the arts, 
and the liberality of its government ; they prove, that a mer- 
cantile spirit and republican forms do not always exclude 
splendor and dignity from public works. 



267 



XXXII. 

The principal door of the baptistery presents different sub- 
jects from the Old Testament, in ten compartments ; around 
it are small, elegant figures of prophets, sibyls, and some 
excellent busts, among which a bald-headed one, in the centre 
of the cornice, is the author's, and another is Bertoluccio's, his 
master and father-in-law, a clever goldsmith of Florence, who 
had assisted him. 

The Creation of Adam avd Eve, is a noble, graceful, and 
poetical composition ; the woman does not issue from a rib, 
but is raised by four little angels ; God receives her, and a 
group of angels in the air seem to survey her with love and 
respect as the fairest work of creation. The side-door repre- 
sents the Life of Jesus Christ. The compartment of the 
Res2irredion of Lazarus is sublime ; the Lazarus, erect, tomb- 
less, statue-like, enveloped in his shroud, a chrysalis phantom, 
whose limbs can only be traced indistinctly, is a new and bold 
creation. The calm dignity of the Saviour, the eagerness of 
Magdalen, the gratitude of Lazarus' relatives, the cool, con- 
templative air of the disciples, accustomed to such miracles, 
complete by their contrasts the effect of this wonderful compo- 
sition. The bronzes of Ghiberti, true pictures in everything 
but coloring, (if painting, the art of illusion, had not its limits 
distinct from statuary), are models of taste, nature, purity, 
and harmony. A single fact is sufficient for their glory : 
Cicognara states that Raphael himself made them his study, 
and a source of inspiration. The interior of the baptistery is 
also very fine. 

In a side-street, just out of the square of the baptistery, or 
Piazza del Duomo, and close to the houses, is a spot religiously 
preserved, where there formerly stood a bench on which Dante 



268 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

used to sit. The words " Sasso di Dante" are inscribed there. 
Perhaps there he mused over the factions and anarchy of Flo- 
rence, and created his Inferno. 

" Ungrateful Florence ! Dante sleeps afar ! " 

PALACES. 
XXXIIL 

The architecture of the palaces of Florence seems singu- 
larly grand, solid, and gloomy. The masses of rocks that 
abound in the country, and served for the colossal construc- 
tions of Etruscan antiquity, were also used by the first Floren- 
tine architects. The public manner, the quarrels of powerful 
families, and the continual riots, contributed likewise to the 
erection of these fortress-like edifices. 

Such is the long-existing spirit of order, and the trading 
propensity of the people of Tuscany, that in these superb 
palaces there is commonly a small wicket, between two win- 
dows on the ground-floor, where the noble master's wine is 
sold. When a customer knocks, the wicket opens, and he 
puts in his fiaschetti, with the regular price, and immediately 
receives it filled This selling, which it would be silly for 
people to laugh at, is a vestige of old manners, at the time 
every Florentine was a tradesman ; and it ought to displease 
no one in a State where, ever since the establishment of the 
grand-dukedom, the princes have nominally made part of the 
XIY Arts. The same custom of retailing at one's town-house 
the wine produced on the estate, was common in antiquity, 
and existed under Louis XIY. at Paris, among the lawyers, 
whose estates were always prudently managed. In a pretty 



OASIS OF ITALY. 269 



play by Dancourt — La Maison de Champagne — a magistrate, 
M. Bernard, tired of regaling the visitors attracted to his 
house, feigns to metamorphose it into a hotel, and he answers 
his wife, a vain, extravagant woman, whom this arrangement 
annoys — " Is it not just as well to sell my wine in the 
country, as to retail it by the pot at Paris, like most of my 
brethren ?" Apartments are also let in the Florentine pa- 
laces, and the price is not over-dear. Mr. Cooper, whose ele- 
vated talent has condescended to give a minute description of 
the hotels and common affairs of Italian life, occupied a fine 
furnished apartment on the first floor in the front, composed 
of ten rooms, besides kitchens, &c., for sixty dollars a month. 

XXXIV. 

The Pitti Palace, begun by Brunelleschi, was finished for 
the abode of Cosmo I. Compared with the imposing old 
Republican palace of the Seigniory, built on a confined spot, 
prescribed by the people, this monument seems a good expres- 
sion of the political contrast of the two epochs, and the archi- 
tecture of its lengthy front has all the stately gloom and 
oppressive uniformity of absolute power. The awe-striking 
aspect of the Pitti palace but little resembles the princes who, 
for a century, have governed Tuscany with so much sagacity, 
mildness, and wisdom, and who make that happy country the 
political oasis of Italy. 

The celebrated court of Ammonato, rich, majestic, and a 
master-piece of its kind, presents a grotto supporting a gush- 
ing fountain on its roof, its picturesque feature, and the best- 
imagined of the harmonious whole of its tasteful decorations. 
The walls of the great hall on tlie ground-floor, present some 
incidents from the life of Lorenzo de' Medici as a patron of 



2t0 JUE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

letters, which are whimsical in their particulars : — ^philosophers 
and poets flying, several of whom stumble and fall, take refuge 
with Medici ; Homer groping his way to the gate of Flor- 
ence, is wonderfully expressed ; at this gate also are Sap;pho 
bedrubbed by a Fury, and behind Dante in a red robe, thrown 
headlong from the stairs leading to Parnassus. The graceful- 
ness and truth of the four basso-relievos, imitating marble, 
which support the roof, are much admired ; they were invented 
and executed by Giovanni di San Griovanni. 



Canova's Venus, despite its renown, the honors it received, 
the enthusiasm it excited when brought to Florence to replace 
the absent Yenus de Medici, the surname of Italica conferred 
by the public voice, the numerous copies made of it by himself 
and others, the beauty of the marble, and the excellence of the 
omked, struck me as vulgar in expression and mien : larger 
than the antique statue, it is less ideal and divine. Above all, 
it has not the same voluptuous bashfulness. One might call 
it in plain terms, a grisette wiping herself. (Even Canova's 
delicate modesty would not permit it to be placed in the gal- 
lery on the old pedestal of the Greek Yenus.) Perhaps, too, 
the curtains, the dim light of the cabinet where it is placed, 
and the glasses which reflect it on all sides, contribute still 
further to give it that air of a boudoir figure which speaks 
more to the sense than the soul, and make it appear still more 
terrestial and modern. 

XXXVI. 

The Pitti Gallery is one of the first, and perhaps the 
choicest galleries in Europe. The most eminent masters have 



A TOPING PARSON. 271 



contributed their different master-pieces to this wonderful se- 
lection, viz. : — 

Salvator Kosa — several Marine views ; his famous Cataline^s 
Conspiracy, too much extolled, there being nothing Roman, 
or antique about it, and his celebrated view called the Fhiloso- 
p/m-^s Landscape : Titian — his Mistress, called Titian's Fair 
One, like his Tenus at the Tribuna ; the portrait of Cardinal 
Ippolito, in Hungarian costume : Andrea del Sarte — a Descent 
from the Cross, and a Dispute on the Trinity, both very fine : 
Raphael — the portraits of Maddelona Doni and her husband 
Angela; the Madonna delta Seggiola, the harmony and ele- 
gance of which the rival engravings of Morghen and Gara- 
vaglia cannot render ; the portrait of Leo X., between the 
Cardinals Guilio de Medici and Rossi — ^notwithstanding the 
admii'ation of more than three centuries, it has always ap- 
peared to offer a strange contrast with the reputation for 
elegance, accorded to both the painter and the pontiff ; this 
father of letters and art, this Pericles of modern Italy, were 
it not for the Roman purple, would have the air of a toping 
parson ; the Madonna del Baldacchino ; the small sublime Vision 
of Ezehiel ; the Madonna of the Grand Duke : Rem- 
brandt — his valuable portrait : Yandyck — an excellent por- 
trait of Cardinal Gui Bentivoglio : Rubens — the allegory of 
the Ravages of the War : Carlo Dolci — St, Peter, weeping ; 
St. Andrew : Michael Angelo — the terrible Fates, so grave, 
thoughtful, severe : Leonardo Yinci — a woman's portrait 
called the Nun, sweet, tender, and melancholy : Domenichi- 
no — a Si. Mary Magdalen : Guilio Romano — the little Dance 
of Apollo and the Muses, so magically colored, and its figures 
seem to dispute for gracefulness and truth with antique sculp- 
tures, &c., &c. 



THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



Few collections claim so many curious and rare books, as 
the library of the Pitti Palace. The foundation laid by 
Rewiczky and Poggiali has been constantly augmented with 
the best and scarcest works in Italian, English, French, and 
German. The following may be remarked : — the collection ad 
uswm Delphini, complete ; that of the Elzevirs, perhaps one 
of the richest known ; the selection of authors quoted by the 
Academy della Crusca, the most complete extant. The works 
on art, the books of natural history, the voyages are superb, 
and the collection of geographical maps, the finest probably 
ever made. Among the most curious are, a small parchment 
book of one hundred pages in Tasso's writings, the manu- 
scripts of Machiavel, and Galileo's Thoughts on Tasso. 

BOBOLI GARDENS. 
XXXYII. 

The solemn Boboli, the garden of the Pitti Palace, laid 
out by Tribolo and Buontaleuti, with its majestic amphi- 
theatre, its statues and fountains seems rather a creation of 
art than the work of nature ; Yersailles has united and far 
surpassed its wonders. 

The heights of the Boboli Gardens are noted for the view 
of Florence. I confess, I preferred the view from the tower 
of Galileo ; that is the place to contemplate Florence and its 
environs. The aspect of the city, although not extensive, is 
singularly grand, historical, aod poetic. What edifices can 
equal her Duomo, her , Palazzo Yecchio, her Santa Croce I 
This latter church, from its austere form and walls, seems 
truly, in the midst of so many noble fabrics, like the mauso 
leum of genius. The noise of the city is not the vulgar cry 



VERSES OF ALFIERI. 213 



of tlie streets, but a kind of buzzing as of bees, which invites 
to reverie. I have more than once saluted Florence from this 
smiling hill, and I love to repeat there with him who sung her 
great men and her glory, — 

" Qui Michel Angiol nacque ? e qui il sublime 
Dolce tester degli amorosi detti ? 
Qui il gran poeta, che in si forte rime 
Scolpi d'inferno i pianti maladetti ? 

" Qui il celeste inventor, ch'ebbe dall'lme 
Valli nostre i pianeti a noi soggetti ? 
E qui il sovrano pensator, ch'esprime 
Si ben dei Prence i dolorosi eflfetti ?" 

—AI fieri Son. XL. 

" Here, Michael Angelo was born ! and in this city, 
Our sweetest poet — bard of the fond amorous ditty ; 
Here, also, that great man, whose nerves of rhyme 
Pluck'd from the burning shores the curse of crime. 

" He, also, that Inventor of celestial fame, 
Who made the planets subject to his plane. 
And him, the lord of thought, who spoke 
Of chains which princes made, but people broke." 



CHURCHES. 
XXXVIII. 

It is at Santa Maria Novella that Boccaccio places the 
meeting of the seven Florentine damsels, after the plague of 
1348, who, to divert themselves, go into the country and re- 
cite the merry, touching, satirical, and something more than 
voluptuous novels, which compose the Decameron. The name, 
and ornamental, smiling aspect of this church, which Michael 



274 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



Angelo, in his admiration, called his wife, {la sua sposa,) 
seems now to have some connection with the most agreeable 
and interesting of all tale-books. Among other attractive 
points which this church presents, is the door, one of the 
finest ever seen, by Alberti. The front has two astronomical 
curiosities — the first, a marble dial, intended to measure the 
celestial are included between the tropics, the oldest meridian 
in Europe — the second, Ptolemy's armilla ; they were both 
placed there by the Dominican, Ignazio Dante, mathematician 
and astronomer, and cosmographer to Cosmo I. 

Its paintings and sculptures interest no less than its noble 
architecture. The soldiers in the Martyrdom of St. Catherine, 
were drawn by Michael Angelo, to expedite the work — Bu- 
giandiui being too slow and hesitating a painter. Cimabue's 
celebrated Madonna^ the first monument of the revival of the 
art at Florence, excited prodigious enthusiasm on its first 
appearance, and was borne in triumph by the people, amid 
the flourishing of trumpets, from the painter's studio to this 
church. 

Charles of Anjou, brother of St. Louis, on his way to Tus- 
cany, after being crowned King of Sicily by the Pope, came 
with all his court to see this Madonna in Cimabue's studio, 
situated near St. Peter's gate. It is supposed, at Florence, 
that the name of Borgo Allegri, by which this quarter is still 
known, is derived from the joyous concourse of men and 
women attracted by the King's visit, and the glorious 
triumph of the Madonna. 

XXXIX. 

Michael Angelo is supposed to have assisted in the grand 
frescoes of the choir, by his master, Ghirlandajo, and they are 



EGGS AND DINNER UPSET. 275 

a key to his works in the Sixtine Chapel. This strange 
pupil, who, instead of paying his master, was paid by him ; and 
he received ten florins annually, from his fourteenth year, for 
his aid. 

In the compartment of the Virgin, the girl followed by two 
women, is the celebrated Ginevra de Bend, one of the beauties 
of her day. These fine frescoes cost only a thousand florins, 
and were finished in the year Lorenzo the Magnificent, died. 
The following inscription on the wall, well expresses the glory 
and prosperity of Florence : — ''Anno 1490, quo jpulcherrima 
civitas ojiiius, vidoriis, artihus, (Rdificiisque nohilis, copia, salu- 
britate, pace perfruebatu?-" 

The wooden Crucifix, of Brunelleschi, a heart-rending ex- 
pression of suftering, was a fine lesson given by him to 
Donatello, after his ignoble Crucifix of Santa Croce, and the 
following incident connected with its erection^ is a faithful 
picture of the almost rustic simplicity of the artist's manners 
at the time : — The two friends were going to dine together, 
and Donatello carried the eggs, and other provisions for the 
repast, in his apron ; when conducted unwittingly by Brunel- 
leschi before the Crucifix he had privately executed, Donatello 
could not help exclaiming, with the frankness of real talent, 
'' You have the gift of making Christs, and /peasants !" and, 
in the height of his admiration, he let go his apron, and 
scattered his eggs and dinner on the floor. 

XL. 

The vast frescoes of the Strozzi Chapel representing Hell and 
Paradise, by Andrea Orgagna and his brother Bernardo — an 
imitation of Dante, whom Andrea passionately loved — manifest 
the progress of the art, and have all the warmth, fire, move- 



2t6 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

ment, and sublime fantasies of the poet. The man placed in 
Hdl, with a paper in his cap, is the town-bailifif, who had 
levied a distress on the artist. In the Paradise, there are 
some pretty women's heads, apparently portraits. 

The Chapel of the Spaniards, of vast and elegant pro- 
portions, offers some fine poetical frescoes of Taddeo Gaddo 
and Simone Memmi, the friend of Petrarch, and was falsely 
supposed to have contained portraits of Petrarch and Laura. 

The fifty Lunettes, representing memorable actions of dis- 
tinguished saints, by Florentine artists, and the long colonnade 
of the columns, render a rich effect to the interior court. 

There is a dispensary of the Dominican Friar attached to 
the church, which enjoys some celebrity, and exhibits good 
management on the part of the monks. These brutal inqui- 
sitors, who in bygone days burned men alive, now distill 
simples, and the medicines are all prepared by the brothers. 
The profession of apothecary is no less reputable than ancient, 
at Florence. We may see by some of its apothecaries, that, 
in the best days of literature, trade formed no discordant 
union with the cultivation of letters and the exercise of the 
highest offices. The famous burlesque poet Lasca, tlie founder 
of the Academy della Crusca, had been an apothecary, as well 
as the great scholar, politician and historian, Matteo Palmieri, 
who was several tunes ambassador, and even became gonfa- 
lonier of the Republic ; and the learned philosopher, acade- 
mician and excellent comic poet, Gralle, was a hosier {cal- 
zajuolo) all his life. Thus much for Santa Novella ! 

XLI. 

The old Church of St. Lawrence was rebuilt by Brunell- 
schi, in 1452. Here, for the first time, the Corinthian order 



FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY. 2t7 

re-appeared, with all the regularity of its proportions and the 
elegance of its capitals, in the fine disposition of its archi- 
tectural lines, which are greatly admired. 

In the centre of the church, a broad pavement of porphyry, 
serpentine, and other marble, covers the tomb of Cosmo, the 
elder. On it are these words : — " Here reposes Cosmo de Me- 
dici, surnamed Father of his Country, by a public decree ; he 
lived seventy-five years, three months, and twenty days." In 
the vault is an equally simple inscription, stating that the tomb 
was erected to him by his son. Such moderation on the tomb 
of this great man is very affecting, when we remember that 
he was for thirty years the able chief, the absolute master 
of the government of Florence, and that he was destined to 
give his name to the most brilliant age of modern literature 
and art. Cosmo has been diversely judged. Michiaval, Sis- 
mondi and Niccolini have treated him harshly. Comines 
pretends that his authority was mild and amiable, such as 
was necessary in a free city. Rousseau said to Bernardin de 
St. Pierre, '' I have been much inclined to write the history 
of Cosmo de Medici. He was a private individual, who 
became the sovereign of his fellow-citizens by making them 
happier. His good deeds alone procured the elevation and 
maintained it." Such was the well-ordered liberality of 
Cosmo, that when he died almost every Florentine of note was 
his debtor for considerable sums. A cu'cumstance less re- 
marked shows that his riches likewise gave him political 
influence abroad equal to that of our most powerful bankers 
and capitalists : when the Venetians entered into a league 
with Alfonso of Aragon against the Florentine Republic, he 
withdrew his funds from Yenice and Naples, and forced the 
allies to remain quiet. 



2t8 THE LAND OP THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

The old sacristy, by the same artist, has a fine sarcophagus 
erected over the two sons of the elder Cosmo ; and is remark- 
able for its elegant designs, and the ornaments and casting of 
its bronze doors. 



XLII. 

The new sacristy, the first and one of the best architect- 
ural performances of Michael Angelo, which he did at about 
forty, already announces, by the ordonnance of the pilasters of 
the second story, his independence and originality in this art, 
as in all others. The soft, still light, which falls from the lan- 
tern on the statues of the tombs, leads to and increases the 
profound, melancholy impression they produce. 

These celebrated sepulchres of Guliauo de' Medici and Lo- 
renzo, Duke d'TJrbino, the most extraordinary chefs-d^ceuvrc 
of Michael Angelo's chisel, have done more honor to the 
author than to the princes they enclose. What a singular 
effect of Michael Angelo's talent, the most unfinished and 
least animated figure. Night, is the most life-like 1 Among 
the many verses, Latin and Italian, composed for these sta- 
tues — an eternal mania of poetizing still common in Italy — 
may be cited the Strozzi's quartrain : — 

" La Notte che tu vedi in si dolci atti 
Dormir, fa da un Angelo scolpita 
In questo sasso, e perche dorme ha vita ; 
Destala, se nol cred6, e parleratti." 

" The Night which you see in such graceful attitude 
Sleeping, was sculptured by Angel's beatitude, 
In yonder stone. It is alive, because asleep ; 
Accost it, if you doubt, and it will surely speak." 



ARMS OF TUSCANY IN STONE. 2Y9 

Charles Y., in the ecstasy that he felt from contemplating 
the figures of these two monuments, was surprised that he did 
not see them rise and speak ! 

XLIII. 

The Chapel of the " Medici," behind the choir in the church 
of St. Lawrence, has been much and justly criticized for the 
octagonal form of the cupola. This work has been in pro- 
gress for more than two centuries ; it is incrusted with jasper 
and granite, and presents the arms of all the Tuscan cities 
in fine stones. The colossal frescoes of the cupola, the finest 
and richest that painter has ever embellished, was completed 
in 1836, after nine years' labor. The subjects, judiciously 
selected from the Scriptures, are in strict conformity with the 
sepulchral destination of the chapel. 

XLIV. 

" St. Mark's" is remarkable for some master-pieces of art and 
the most illustrious tombs of the revival. The brilliant chapel 
of the Serragli, with its six excellent paintings — among which 
the Last Supper, by Santi Titi, is the most admired, and the 
great Crucifix, painted on wood, with a gold ground over the 
principal door, by Giotto, are the most attractive objects of 
its interior. 

The Convent of St. Mark, from the designs of Michelozzo, 
presents some fine lunettes in its two cloisters, painted in 
fresco by Pocetti, Dandini, and old Gherardini ; among the 
numerous paintings of Fra Bartolommeo, who was a Monk of 
St. Mark, a St. Vincent has been thought worthy of Titian or 
Giorgione, for its coloring. In this convent you may see the 
cell of Geronimo Savonarola, prior of St. Mark, to which this 



280 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

dark enemy of the Medici always retreated when Lorenzo, 
whose family had founded the convent, came to visit it, or 
appeared in the garden. This religious tribune of Florence, 
and the intrepid foe of the abuses of the Roman Court, a 
monkish demagogue, had such a prodigious ascendancy over 
his fellow-citizens, that he one year induced them to renounce 
the carnival, and at his eloquent voice huge pyramids of books, 
paintings, musical instruments, with cards and dice, were burnt 
in the square before the old palace. The scarcity and exces- 
sive price of the first editions of Dante, Petrarch and Boc- 
caccio, was owing to this book auto-da-fe ; and the greatest 
painter of Florence, shocked at the seductions of his art, 
threw his voluptuous works into the same fire, took the habit 
of St. Dominick, and had no glory thenceforward but under 
the name of Fra Bartolommeo, or the frate. 

XLV. 

The celebrated old library of this convent was first classified 
by one Sarzana, a monk, who afterwards became a great Pope, 
under the name of Nicholas Y. ''St. Mark" seems thus to 
have originated the first catalogue, which served as a model 
for the other libraries of Italy and the Continent. 

Xot far from the latter, the noble equestrian statue of Fer- 
dinand I., third Grand-Duke of Tuscany — the best and most 
beloved of the Medici — adorns the fine Piazza of the Annun- 
ziata ; it was cast from the cannons taken from the Turks by 
the Knights of St. Stephen. 

The lunettes of the church, which gives the name to the 
square, are covered with some good paintings by eminent 
artists ; among which the S^osalizo, by Franciabigio, not 
finished, still bears the marks of his hammer, when indignant 



A DROWNED MAN. 281 



at the preniature exposure of his fresco by the monks. The 
Birth of the Virgiii, and the Adoration of the Magi, by Andrea 
del Sarto, contain portraits of the artist and his wife. The 
effect of the interior is very brilliant, from an excess of gilded 
ornaments. The Virgin in the Chapel of the Annunciation, 
appeared so marvelous at the time it was painted, as to give 
rise to a report that angels had descended to the work, while 
the artist had fallen asleep for the express purpose of letting 
them come from heaven to aid him. The gallery and cupola 
of this edifice, in a rotundo-like shape, as large in the vault as 
the Pantheon, without windows or an opening, is a structure 
of most extraordinary effect, and justly-considered as one of 
the wonders of Florence. The basso-relievo of the tabernacle 
was executed by Thorwaldsen. The lunettes of its magnificent 
cloister present some frescoes of singular merit : — The Resusci- 
tation of a Drowned Man, by Poccetti, very fine, is reckoned 
one of the best paintings in Florence. The celebrated Ma- 
donna del Sacco, admired by Michael Angelo and Titian, is a 
master-piece* for grace, nature, and purity, by Andrea del 
Sarto. 

XLVI. 

Some few feet of wall, painted in fresco, will make the 
Church del Carmine live forever in the annals of art. This 
primitive painting of Masolino da Panicale, Mossaccio, and 
Filippo Lippi, is already perfect. In the Baptism, the cele- 
brated figure of the man without clothes, who seems quaking 
with cold, makes one shiver to look at him ; the Adam and 
Eve were copied by Kaphael, in his Loggia, without altera- 
tion. This Chapel of the Holy Sacrament is as the source of 
the grand Italian painting ; it was there that Leonardo Yinci, 
Michael Angelo, Andrea del Sarto, Perugino, Raphael, and 



282 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE, 

Era Bartolomeo, studied and formed their taste ; and these 
admirable artists seem less surprising after such a precursor as 
Massaccio. 

XLVII, 

♦' In Santa Croce's holy precincts lie 
Ashes which make it holier, dust which is 
Even in itself an immortality, 
Though there were nothing save the past, and this, 
The particle of those sublimities 
Which have relapsed to chaos.'' 

The piazza of Santa Croce witnessed about the middle of 
the thirteenth century, the formation of the popular authority 
of Florence, when the wealthiest citizens, weary of aristocratic 
influence and oppression, assembled there, took arms, deposed 
the podesta, and, after dividing themselves into twenty com- 
panies according to their respective quarters, each of which had 
a chief and a standard, replaced the podesta by a new judge 
with the title of captain, formed his council of twelve anziani, 
and created, in the very heat of a riot, the constitution, which 
during ten years was the source of so many honorable actions. 
This square is now the rendezvous of the masqueraders and 
follies of the carnival. 

Santa Croce which was built about the end of the thir- 
teenth century by the great architect Arnolfo di Sapo, has 
been restored on the designs of Yasari. This vast church, 
naked, gloomy, severe, lighted by superb Gothic windows of 
stained glass, filled with illustrious tombs, has justly been 
styled the Pantheon of Florence. In contemplating the mau- 
soleums of Michael Angelo, Machiavel, Alfieri, and Galileo, 
within so small a space, humanity seems aggrandized. The 



GENIUS. — CELEBRATED TOMBS. 283 

religious character of the edifice is almost lost in its national 
character and the religious feelings of another kind inspired 
by genius ; but the faculties accorded to such men supply a 
new motive for admiring the hand of Providence. 

Michael Angelo's mausoleum is deficient in unity and gran- 
deur, although the three statues of Architecture, Sculjpture, 
and Painting, that adorn it, are by able sculptors. The body 
— he died at Rome — was directed by the Pope to be buried 
at St. Peter's, but Cosmo de Medici, jealous of such a conquest, 
had it clandestinely removed by night, and transported to 
Florence in a package of merchandise. 

The ashes of Machiavel remained nearly three centuries 
without receiving any honorable distinction, and it is a singu- 
lar fact that an English peer, Lord Cowper, headed the first 
subscription formed by the Florentines. 

G-alileo's mausoleum gives too much evidence of the corrupt 
taste of the sculptors of the time. When we saw these two 
tombs facing each other, it seemed to us that, in the new ca- 
reer of philosophy and science, the torch of genius had never 
ceased to shine at Florence, and that it then passed without 
interruption into the lands of the Tuscans. 

To supply the place of Dante's tomb, a colossal cenotaph 
has recently been erected to him. This monument is now 
only a magnificent testimony, that Dante is not there. These 
are but a few of the illustrious tombs of Santa Croce — the 
Westminster of Florence. 

" But where repose the all Etruscan three — 
Dante, and Petrarch, and scarce less than they. 
The Bard of Prose, creative spirit ! he 
Of the Hundred Tales of love — where did they lay 
Their bones, distinguish'd from our common clay, 



284 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

In death as life ? — Are they resolved to dust, 
And have their country's marbles nought to say ? 
Could not her quarries furnish forth one bust ? 
Did they not to her breast their filial earth intrust ? 

" Ungrateful Florence ! Dante sleeps afar, — 
Like Scipio, buried by the upbraiding shore : — 
Petrarch, upon a far and foreign soil. — 
Boccaccio to his parent earth bequeath'd 
His dust, — and lies not here her Great among ; 
And Santa Croce wants their mighty dust; — 

While Florence vainly begs her banish'd dead, and weeps." 

XLVIII. 

The Church of the Trinity, by Nicolas Pisani, simple but 
effective in its proportions, was greatly admired by Michael 
Angelo, It has a number of excellent paintings ; and the in- 
genious pulpit, designed by Buontalenti, is highly esteemed. 
On the square before the church is a granite column, sur- 
mounted with a colossal porphyry statue of Justice, insolently 
erected by Cosmo I., in commemoration of his victory over 
the Florentines at Montemurlo. 

XLIX. 

We looked in at the Church of Or-San-Michele, on the way 
to the Riccardi (formerly the Mediciy Palace, which is one 
of the most imposing and characteristic of the edifices of 
Florentine architecture. Erected by Cosmo, the elder, it be- 
came the asylum of the refugee Greeks of Byzantium and 
Athens, and the cradle of science, letters, and modern civili- 
zation. On entering it, with thoughts preoccupied with the 
grandeur of such recollections, we were somewhat disappointed 



PROTEUS OF PAINTING. LUXURY OF THE MEDICI. 285 

in finding the oflQce and administration of the land-tax in- 
stalled there. It passed from the descendants of Cosmo, to 
be sold to the government, in 1804. The last days of Cosmo 
were full of sorrow ; the ill health of his son Pietro, and the 
loss of his favorite Griovanni, rendered him unfit for business, 
and it was but shortly before his death that he exclaimed, 
with a sigh, when carried into the apartments of his splendid 
palace — " This house is too large for so small a family." 

The entablature of the Riccardi Palace, although rich, is 
rather massive ; the eight marble basso-relievos in the court, 
imitated from antique stones and cameos, are an excellent 
work, by Donatello. The gallery is celebrated for its ceiling 
in fresco, a master-piece of Luca Giordano, surnamed the 
Proteus of painting, from his clever imitation of different 
masters. This work — a prodigy of ease, brilliancy, and ima- 
gination — is a poetical allegory on the vicissitudes of human 
life, mixed with mythological stories, and oddly crowned with 
the Apotheosis of the Medici. 

L. 

The Collegiate Church of Or-San-Michele, (St. Michael's 
Garden,) a detached Gothic edifice, is one of the noblest and 
most characteristic in Florence, combining the master-pieces 
of her first artists. Among the bronze and marble statues 
which occupy the niches, stand the Apostles, as the patron 
saints of the different corporations of the trades, of which the 
St. Mark was so admired by Michael Angelo, that he addressed 
it with — " JS'^arco, perche non mi parliT' — " Mark, why do you 
not speak to me ? " The superb tabernacle, containing the 
miraculous image of the Yirgin, is one of Orgagua's most 
celebrated wonders, and one of the monuments of that luxurv 



5J8b THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

of the arts to which the thrifty spirit and republican govern- 
ment of Florence was no obstacle. The magnificence of the 
Medici has been widely celebrated ; but it must be confessed 
that they only followed the usages of popular governments, 
that this splendor was in the manners, and that these politic 
masters were compelled to employ it as a means of domination. 
Despite the calamities of the times, the tabernacle of Or-San- 
Michele cost the heavy sum of eighty thousand gold florins. 

On St. Anna's, July 26, this church is decorated with the 
twenty-one ancient gonfalons of the major and minor crafts of 
Florence — white, blue and red banners, covered with armorial 
bearings, float on the outside of its walls, in commemoration 
of the attack, for which the afternoon bell was the signal — 
and expulsion of that mean tyrant, Gauthier de Brienne, oddly 
called the Duke of Athens, who had no defenders but his 
guard, the butchers, some few of the populace, and the four 
families of the people who had elected him. At night the old 
edifice is full ; it glitters with the light of tapers illuminating 
the airy pyramids of its brilliant tabernacle ; it echoes with 
religious songs ; and one might there have fancied himself in 
the halcyon days of the Florentine Seignory. 

ITALIAN LITERARY SOCIETY. 
LI. 

We insert here a picture of Italian literary society, which 
is no less perfect at this day, than at the time of Yalery's 
visit to Florence, in 1834. It is so admirable % portrait, and 
so true to the life of the society of the present day, that we 
do not scruple to insert it verbatim ; and more especially and 
heartily do we inscribe it, as a slight tribute to the virtues 



LITERARY DRAWING-ROOMS. 287 

and many pleasing attributes of a lady of high birth, in 
our own country, whose urbanity, charity, and nobility of 
character, has long contributed to illuminate the social circles 
of a neighboring city, and whose loss will ever be felt by that 
city, which can only claim its appellative of " Athens," from its 
vicinity to a University, rather than from the gentleness of 
its own people, or the exclusive mist of its own Scotch 
affinities. 

LII. 

"The house of Signora Carlotta Lenzoni Medici, well 
worthy this last name and the neighborhood of Sante Croce, 
presents a statue of Psyche, by S. Tenerani, a sculptor of 
Carrara, one of the most graceful and poetical performances 
of modern sculpture in Italy, and very pleasingly described by 
S. Giordani, as ^ La jirima ajffiizione cVun cuore innocente, ossia 
una PsicheJ The amiable mistress has one of those Italian 
drawing-rooms, that assemble every night the literary men of 
the town and well-educated people of fashion, and become 
real academies, without pride, constraint, or pedantry. The 
imagination, moreover, is singularly charmed at hearing an- 
nounced, in these saloons, the immortal names of Buonarotti, 
Peruzzi, Alberti, and others, borne by men of merit, who, in 
the absence of glory, have obtained esteem, and whose family 
traditions are sometimes worth collecting. 

" In these old and true Italian societies, there are sometimes 
literary readings totally unexpected — no previous announce- 
ment having been given, where one is allowed to be candid. 
The pastimes, songs, stories — all the intellectual diversions 
painted by Castiglione, in his Cortegiano, and by Bargagli, in 
his Vagghie, Sanesi — are still kept up in these parties of hearty 



288 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

aDiusement and mirthful gayety. These ladies, so lively and 
natural, are, moreover, capable of most gravely discussing 
questions of ancient and modern literature, the fine-arts, or the 
present interests of civilization ; and conversations on these 
subjects occasionally start up in the midst of these pastimes, 
and are treated in a superior manner. The deep learning 
and literary talents of the Italian ladies of the sixteenth 
century, may still be found among those of the present epoch. 
Florence has produced and possesses some of the most dis- 
tinguished. Signora Carniani Malvezzi married at Bologna, 
a good poetess and able Latinist, has translated some of the 
philosophical and political works of Cicero, vrith great fehcity, 
and her translation of the Repuhlica is even superior to that 
of Prince Odaleschi. In a different kind, her translation in 
verse of Pope's Rajpe of the Lock, is esteemed for its elegance 
and harmony. This lady is still engaged in composing an 
epic poem on the expulsion of the Duke of Athens from 
Florence ; and the cantos already published have made the 
public anxious for the rest, Signora Fantastici Sulgheri 
Marchesini, improvisatrice of Florence, justly celebrated, has 
successfully translated parts of Bion and Anacreon. Inde- 
pendently of the Italian women noted for their writings, there 
is a multitude of others, merely lovers of learning, who relish 
and duly appreciate good works, are conversant with modern 
and ancient languages, have even followed scientific lectures, 
and, with all this learning, have not the slightest trace of pre- 
sumption, vanity, or affectation. In fine, they have that 
quiet sterling merit spoken of by La Bruyere — * Qii^elles m 
'peuvent couvrir de toute leiir modestiej " 



BRIDGE OVER HELLESPONT. 289 



CELEBRATED HOUSES. 

LIII. 

Few cities offer so many illustrious modern houses as 
Florence. The house where Cellini was born, and acquired 
his name of Benvenuto, v/as in the street Chiara nel pojpolo di 
San Lorenzo. His dwelling-house, a present from Cosmo I., 
in which the memorable founding of the Perseus took place, 
was in the street del Rosaio, where inscriptions on marble 
slabs perpetuate the memory of these facts. 

The house of Frederico Zuccari was in the street del Man- 
dorlo, where the embossed architecture invented by him still 
bears witness to the caprice of his taste. 

In the street called GhibeUina, a name associated with the 
wars, discords and proscriptions of Florence, in this to\yn, now 
so quiet, is the house of Michael Angelo, the first of these cele- 
brated abodes, which was still inhabited by a descendant, the 
Cav. Cosmo Buonarotti. This house has become a monument 
of Michael Angelo's glory. A series of pictures in the gal- 
lery represents divers incidents of his life. These paintings 
were executed by the most eminent artists of the time ; but 
some of them are far from excellent — Michael Angelo pre- 
senting the plan of the Laurentian Library to Leo. X., by 
Empoli, is the best. During the three-fourths of a century 
that this prodigious man, who undertook at once the Last 
Judg/neiit, the Moses, and the cupola of St. Peter's, held the 
sceptre of the arts, seven Popes loaded him with wealth and 
honors. He was solicited by Francis I., Charles Y., Alphonse 
d'Este, and the Republic of Venice ; Soliman even wanted 
him to unite Europe and Asia by a nrirlgc over the Darda- 



290 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

nelles, and he by himself was like another power. In this 
house may be seen his first performances in painting and 
sculpture. A sketch of the Virgin sudiing the Infant Jesus, 
is extraordinary for the vigor and avidity of the child. An 
expressive Christ on the Cross, in red chalk, is quite surprising 
for its finished execution, when we remember the impatient 
talent of the artist. Michael Angelo painted with his left 
hand, like Holbein, and sculptured with the right. He 
adopted this habit from necessity — the handling of marble 
having so far weakened his right hand that he was obliged 
to color with his left. The question as to which of the two 
arts he excelled in, is not easily decided. Cicognara and some 
other writers think him greatest in painting ; Quatremere 
seems to think otherwise. An unscientific person can only 
speak of his impressions, and I confess that the Chapel of the 
Tombs affected me much more than the Last Judgment, which, 
it is true, is much impaired by time. When, in addition 
to these, we call to mind the dome of St. Peter's, and his 
poems, so passionate, religious, energetic, and as his genius, 
so Dante-like, he really seems, as the poet has beautifully 
expressed it, "the four-souled mam!^ — " uom di quattr' alme." 

LIY. 

A bundle of Ricordi, m Michael Angelo's hand-writing, 
found in his house, containing even the expenses of his journey 
to Yenice in 1529, and the measure of the marble he had 
ordered at Carrara, proves that, with all the fire of his 
genius, he was methodical and careful, and managed his affairs 
with great regularity. Among the papers preserved is a 
letter from Michael Angelo's nephew, addressed to Cosmo I., 
respecting the erection of the mausoleum in Santa Croce, 



PULLIXG BY THE HAIR. 291 



containing this singular wish : — He desires that the figure of 
sculpture may have the first place, on account of the pre- 
eminence which he asserts his uncle to have accorded to that 
art over painting — an opinion in unison with his letter to 
Yarchi, in which he pretends that sculpture is to painting 
what the sun is to the moon. He seems to have prided 
himself more in his talents as a sculptor ; and among the 
different manuscripts of the Buonarotti-house were several 
letters signed " Michel Angela, Buonarotti, ScultoreP This sin- 
gular and unjust preference of Michael Angelo's may, how- 
ever, be explained by the character of his painting, which is 
anatomical, confused, agitated, terrible, and destitute of the 
touching philosophy of Raphael and Poussin. 

The first marble sculptured by Michael Angelo, when eigh- 
teen years of age — not Hercules fighting the Centaurs, as stated 
by Yasari, but a fantastical, youthful composition — presents 
already some admirable details ; such are the figure pulling the 
other by the hair, and the one behind striking with a club. 
In the choir of the Duomo of Florence we saw the artist's 
last work, (the Piety.) It seems to me that it might be most 
fitly placed beside this ; there would be something pleasing in 
contemplating and comparing them in this house — another 
temple, of which Michael Angelo is the deity. 

Near the old Gianfigliazzi Palace, and opposite the Casino 
of the nobility, is the small but illustrious house of Alfieri. 
He dwelt there from 1793 to 1803, the epoch of his decease. 
The air, the prospect, the comforts of this house, had restored 
to him — he writes, in his living memoirs — a great part of his 
intellectual and creative faculties, excepting his dramatic 
powers (tramelogidie,) which his seventeen chefs-d'aiuvres had 
doubtless exhausted. 



292 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DUGE. 

The house of G-alilio, at Florence, was not far distant from 
that since built by his loving pupil, Yicinzo Viviani. It was 
on the Costa, near the fortress of Belvidere. 

The small house occupied by Macliiavel, as stated by an 
inscription, is in the street de^ Guiccardini, opposite the vast 
black palace of the historian, his dear and constant friend, 
who, notwithstanding the difference between their dwellings 
and dignities, appreciated the merits of his illustrious neigh- 
bor, and treated him precisely as his equal. It was there that 
Machiavel died, poor, in discredit with his party, on the 2 2d 
of June, 152 1, aged fifty-eight, killed by excessive doses of 
pills that he had administered himself, supposing them effica- 
cious against his stomach, complaints. 

ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. 
LV. 

The Florence Academy of Fine Arts, one of the most 
splendid establishments of the kind in Italy, presents an inte- 
resting collection of the works of the Old Masters, which is so 
arranged as to afford an excellent opportunity for the pro- 
gressive study of the art, from its earliest epoch to the decline 
of painting. This gallery, which ranks next to the two great, 
Uliizi and Pitti, contains two superb paintings, the Assump- 
tion, by Perugino, and his Dead Christ, which has such fine 
old men's heads and touching holy women, as to clearly indi- 
cate the master of the immortal Raphael. 

A St. Francis, by Cigoli, is connected with a story not 
very honorable to his feelings as a man, were it not explained 
by the painter's passion for truth. While Cigoli was in some 
embarrassment about expressing the languor of the saint's fea- 



STUCCO. — PIETRO DURO. 293 

tures, a pilgrim, worn out with hunger and fatigue, presented 
himself, asking alms ; the artist, enchanted with this lucky 
chance, entreated him to sit a moment ; the pilgrim con- 
sented, but almost immediately swooned : Cigoli, instead of 
relievmg him, took advantage of his condition to give the face 
of the saint the fainting expression so much admired. 

Thus we have selected from the numbers of this gallery. 
Perhaps it is an evil to stimulate that excess of culture which 
generates mediocrity. Inspiration is then less frequent, and 
art seems to sink into a trade. Thus, at all epochs, and par- 
ticularly at Rome, under the last emperors, the great number 
of artists was a token of decline. The multitude of poets, the 
immensity of the armies, the great number of statesmen, have 
not been more favorable to the genius of poesy, war, or 
government. 

There is a school of Scagliola at the Academy, and with 
this new species of stucco, brilliant and unchanging paintings 
are there executed, representing flowers, animals, landscapes, 
and buildings. The manufacture of hard stones (jpietro du- 
ro), a celebrated and splendid branch of Florentine industry, 
which has produced the fine tables of the Pitti Palace, the 
large octagonal table of the gallery, and the works of the 
Medici chapel, is still kept up by the Grand Duke on his 
own account, and is worthy of its reputation. 

LVI. 

Having occasion to visit the studios of our countrymen at 
Florence, I early sought for Powers ; I found him that 
pleasing man of whom description did not anticipate the 
admiration and delight, experienced at this interview. Al- 
though entirely wrapped in, and surrounded by the ideal, 



294 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

he still retained enough of the practical virtues of this life to 
let intelligence beam through the modesty of manhood ; and 
his affability, which soon put me at ease, lent a charm to a 
character of so winning an influence and such gentle suavity 
as to irradiate the whole discourse of that hour, with such 
genial warmth of enthusiasm and surprise, as could not be 
much unlike those soft embodiments of thought which had 
animated his marble figures with expression of humanity and 
beauty. We spoke of the Yenus ; and from him I learned 
that some parts of the goddess of the Tribuna were not origi- 
nal. We agreed that there were faults and slight defects in 
the anatomy of her back, but that was somewhat relieved by 
the graceful throw of the arm. There appeared to be a want 
of proper balance in the plastic of the thighs. While there I 
saw his " Fisher-Boy," simply beautiful, with truth ; an un- 
finished model of a Psyche, so full of soul, and eyes beaming 
with the languishing suspense of a wounded thought ; there 
were also copies of his Eve and Gh-eek Slave in the atelier of 
the workmen. His room for study was exclusively his own, as 
it was necessary for him to retain the most profound secrecy 
about his late discoveries in the manipulation of his busts and 
the recondite mysteries of his profession. 

EGYPTIAN MUSEUM. 
LVII. 

The Egyptian Museum, collected in Egypt during the years 
1828 and 1829, by S. Rosellini — the disciple, companion, and 
successor of Champollion — although not extensive, is choice 
and curious. The mummy of one of those Greeks, who settled 
in Egypt under Ptolemy, is in such wonderful preservation, 



EGYPTIAN MUSEUM. 295 



that the hands and thighs may still be traced under the very 
clean bandages covering them. We may also form an idea 
of the oddness of the Greek costume of that epoch, by the 
full-faced portrait of the deceased painted on the mummy. A 
Scythian war-chariot, of beech, without iron or metal, a rude 
trophy, taken by an Egyptian, has been deposited in his tomb. 
The painting on one of the steles or columns, represents a 
woman seated before an altar, with her favorite monkey under 
her chair ; a taste for these pets seems to have been common 
among the Egyptian ladies. Another basso-relievo on a fu- 
neral stele, sixteen hundred years anterior to the Christian 
era, represents the goddess who bore the two names of Justice 
and Truth, and presided at judgment of the after-state ; it 
came from the tombs of the kings, who were the first subjected 
to this noble and terrible deity. One stele, of excellent work- 
manship, presents the Scribe Amentiba, and Dgioa, his wife, 
after their decease, sitting, and receiving funeral homage from 
their three daughters. A stone stele shows a Ptolemy pre- 
senting two vases to Isis ; although it suffers from the bad 
taste that prevailed under the Ptolemys, an epoch of decline 
in Egyptian art, it has the merit, perhaps, of being unique for 
its small proportions. A great painting offers one of those 
funeral banquets that the Egyptians gave to the relations and 
friends, after depositing the mummy in the tomb ; the men are 
served by slaves — the women by maid-servants ; and at the 
end of the room are a set of harpers. Twelve paintings larger 
than life, with explanatory hieroglyphics, still retaining a 
freshness of coloring, commemorate the exploits of Ramses I. 
over the Scythians, in the fifth year of his reign, 1565 years 
before our era. A large fragment of arenaria stone, found in 
Nubia, near the second cataract, goes back almost to Abra- 



296 THE LAND OF THE C-ESAR AND THE DOGE. 

ham's days. There we see the Pharaoh Osortasen, to whom 
the god Mendu (the Egyptian Apollo) conducts, with their 
hands tied, various nations of Ethiopia, each of whom has the 
name of his natal-place inscribed. This antique stele may be 
regarded as an important monument for both the history and 
ancient geography of Africa. 

LYIII. 

The Museum of Physics and Natural History is curious. 
Several rooms contain the celebrated collection of anatomical 
pathology, displaying the different parts of the human body in 
wax, colored, but not too faithfully. The sight of all the 
muscles, viscera, arteries, and entrails, of all this materiality, 
all this reality of our being, has something dreadful and affect- 
ing. We infinitely preferred the botanical series, with its 
charming assemblage of model wax-flowers, or the cabinets of 
shells, the most complete in existence ; and we were more 
pleased in the department appropriated by Galileo, so prettily 
adorned with frescoes of different scenes in his eventful life, 
which contained a telescope and several astronomical instru- 
ments that had been executed under his direction. 

RAFFAELANA. 

LIS. 

Raphael and his works never tire or exhaust your admira- 
tion or your taste, or we should feel bound to excuse this late 
mention of a work of architecture which particularly charmed 
us, in the way to a private mansion. The Pandolfini Palace, 
occupying the corner of two streets, of rather moderate pro- 
portions, struck us as being peculiarly adapted for purposes 



A DISCOVERY OF ART. 29t 

of daily occupation and comfortable use. It was erected after 
the designs of Raphael, for the Bishop of Troja, Gianozzo 
Pandolfini, a virtuous prelate, says an historian of the time, 
detested by the other prelates of Florence, who were, for 
the most part, abandoned to vice. It is impossible to find a 
more judicious, elegant, or noble specimen of architecture ; 
the entablature which gracefully crowns the palace, is ranked 
with truly classic models, and the gallery running around 
with pilasters, supporting a hanging garden, completes the 
beauty and harmonious elegance of the whole construction. 

Having passed this palace, we hastened to visit a remark- 
able work of Raphael, that had but recently been discovered. 
In the old " Yia Foutinella," where formerly stood the Con- 
vent of St, Onofrio, and since that time, a remise, or stable, is 
the spot where, but three years since, a beautiful fresco of 
Raphael Sanzio was disclosed to light. The manner of the 
" Coenaculum" is that of his early style. This " Last Supper" 
is even better than Leonardo Yinci's great master-piece, which 
is so well known from the engravings by Raphael Morghens, 
and shows all the treatment of his first method, prior to his 
change to a second, about the age of twenty-two. The fea- 
tures of the Apostles are earnest and noble, and indicative of 
those simple fishermen who were early called by the Saviour 
to be "fishers of men." The group of Christ and the beloved 
Apostle John, is full of touching simplicity and love. The 
face of our Lord beams with a holy consciousness of the di- 
vine benefits of that sacred feast— the Holy Communion of the 
blessed body and blood of Jesus — whilst the sweet repose of 
the gentle John betokens that rest which innocence alone can 
frame in a placid calm of love, in harmonious keeping with the 
painful solicitude of his brethren. Judas Iscariot sits apart, 



298 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

and aloof, in front of the table, as a polluted sinner, as if he 
had no part or lot in the sanctity of that solemn sacrament. 

It contributed no little joy to my gratification to have met 
Professor Jesi on the spot, who was engaged in taking an 
excellent drawing of the fresco, in crayon. He seemed to 
have succeeded perfectly in catching the marked expressions 
of the different features, the freshness of which have been 
much injured by the effects of time, or the more cruel abuses 
of man. 

His excellent copy of the scene gave me an increased inte- 
rest in the subject, and, in due course of time, will be followed 
by an engraving on steel, which we trust will be worthy of 
Florence and her devoted sons of art. 

FESTIVALS AND FEASTS. 
LX. 

It was our good fortune to have visited Florence in the 
season of her festivals. On one sad occasion I was present 
at the cathedral (de Fiore) and listened to the solemn service 
of the Requiem over the dead of the recent battles of Italy. 
The combined effects of the dim religious light, and modu- 
lated rays streaming in gorgeous webs through the painted 
windows of the church, contrasted richly with the lambent 
flames of a thousand consecrated candles, and lent an im- 
posing aspect to the vast and crowded concourse which had 
assembled on this occasion. A stranger even could not help 
being touched by a compassionate sympathy with the be- 
reaved and the widowed. That cataplasm was pregnant with 
a mournful struggle for the birth of Italian freedom, but 
history had to blot out a page in the annals of republics. 



FACTS AND FANCIES. 299 



Liberty had failed again to rouse the life of the ancient Ro- 
mans' prerogative ; and now the solemn presence of death, and 
the thoughts of the horrors entailed by wars did not cease to 
revive the anger of a son of freedom, even amidst the accla- 
mations for the most illustrious victories of the nation. 

There was also a brilliant illumination of Florence on the 
occasion of other victories and battles won by the native sol- 
diers ; and on a beautiful June night, the lights from the Pitti 
and Riccardo palace, and from the ten thousand windows of 
the Long' Arno showed the flaming lustre of myi'iads of 
lights, pouring their breath of oriflamme over the sheen of 
the troubled and bounding Arno. 

FACTS AND FANCIES. 
LXI. 

It was but a tame spectacle after the Girandola of Castle 
St. Angelo at Rome ! At least, so thought we all, as we 
took tea with the ladies, and looked out through the windows 
of Xo. 1189 Long' Arno, whence by stra,nge change of travel, 
names of more ancient celebrity than are now connected with 
their modern fame, such as Emerson, Chauncey, Hooker, 
Farnese, Ambrose, and Bruen, were joined in conversation, 
or interchanged proprieties, about art and travel, Egypt, 
cockneys, and mummies. " Lamplight and moonlight," I ob- 
served, "have equally delusive effects," and many strong 
lines of feature which are revealed by daylight are softened 
by shades at evening. Even so, philosophers ! as to render 
beauties less critical, and females more attractive, by half-a- 
moon. 

Time and again one spends an hour in the Tribuna ! You 



300 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

never tire of the rich gems that are there displayed. You 
become earnestly, peculiarly so, admirers of the Yenus — 
that most graceful relic of the antique, which courts the close 
inspection of every line of its gracefully plastic form, seem- 
ing to swell in cadence with almost the moving inspirations 
of his creative mind that first moulded it into life. How often 
are Raphael's paintings dwelt upon and admired, and how 
closely viewed is the Fornarina — beauty of matchless eyes 
and face ! — what a melting beam of loveliness ! and how 
ravishing her charms must have been, who could fascinate into 
madness the highest genius of invention in Art ! — Raphael 
Sanzio d'Urbino ! 



ENYIRONS OF FLORENCE. 



POGGIO IMPERIALE. 



By whichever bridge you seek to cross the Arno, whether 
it be that of the " Grazt^ the Carraja, or the bold, light, and 
elegant bridge of the Trinity, which spans its waters in three 
noble arches, presenting its model elliptic to the opposing 
current of its struggling waves ; whatever be the way, I 
repeat it, you will pass over the Arno, despite that you say, 
" Ah, no !" Although the first river in Tuscany, with all the 
sweetness and almost poetry of its name, it is but a tortuous 
and devastating torrent : — 

" Un fiumicel che nasce in Fatterona 
E cento miglia di corso nol sazia," 

says Dante, describing its numerous windings. The soil it 
washes down gives the stream a yellow hue, and the water is 
not drunk at Florence, 

By whichever road you may take when you get over on the 
other side of the river, you will finally be driven into the 
avenue of the Poggio Imperiale, formed of yews, pines, 
cypresses, and old oaks. This, one of the first of palace- 
avenues, is a kind of natural monument ; imposing, precise, 
and well-trimmed, like most royal parks, is somewhat dull and 
tame, lacks much of the interest of nature, and contrasts 
strikingly at Florence with the charming variety of the Cas- 
cine, or Royal Farms. 



802 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

This palace was formerly the Baroncelli villa. It is said 
that a member of that ancient family, Tommaso Baroncelli, 
most cleTotedly attached to Cosmo I., having gone from his 
villa to meet his master returning from Rome, was so enrap- 
tured on learning that he had received the title of '^ grand duke'' 
from the Pope, that he died of joy, an instance of enthusiasm in 
servitude that must appear strange now-a-days ! The Poggio 
afterwards passed from the Salviati family into the hands of 
Cosmo I. Among the solemnities common to Poggio, as well 
as other palaces of princes, was the performance of the tragedy 
of " St. Ursula,''^ by the family, during the sojourn of Prince 
Stanilaus, in 1625. This piece of St. Ursula was followed 
by a ball, in which more than a hundred ladies took part ; 
and a superb halletto di cavnlli (horse-opera,) executed in the 
neighboring meadow, transformed into an amphitheatre, and 

illuminated. 

II. 

Above the Poggio is the pretty hill of Acetri, sung by the 
poets for its delicious white wine — 

" La verdea soavissimfi d'Arcetri," 
and immortalized by the residence, the prison, and the death 
of Galileo. On the road is the tower called di Galilio, a 
peasant's house and rustic observatory, whence the view of 
Florence and the envu'ons is very fine. The little house, now 
the Bonajuti villa, in which that great man dwelt ten years, 
seemed to me agreeable and worthy the surname of Griojello, 
(jewel,) which it formerly bore. Towards the end of his life, 
he received the youthful Milton there, then only a scholar 
and elegiac poet. There also may be seen the chamber of 
the illustrious captive, hung with ordinary leather, and fur- 
nished with plain chairs, as well as the terrace on which he 



BIRTH-DAYS OF GENIUS. " 303 

used to pass hours together. It was, perhaps, there that he 
lost his sight, at the age of seventy-four, when, despite his old 
age and misfortune, he continued with unwearying courage 
his tables of Jupiter's satellites : — 

' ' Yien quegli occhi a mirar che il ciel spiarno 
Tutto quanto, e lui visto, ebber disdegno 
Veder oltre la terra, e s'oscurarno." — Monti. 

" And when those eyes had seen all that heavenly host. 
And having seen, declined to look on earth. 
Those balls grew dim, and were to vision lost." 

Galileo, a lover of the country, who could read only in the 
book of nature, and regarded towns as prisons of the human 
mind, occupied this house from the end of December, 1633, 
to his latest day, Wednesday the 8th of January, 1642, the 
very year of Xewton's birth. We have seen that he entered 
the world two days before Michael Augelo's death ; so that 
it may be said that genius was destined to precede and follow 



Not far from Galileo's house, on another agreeable hill, 
called Bellosgua)-do, at Montici, was the abode of Guicciardini. 
He, too, ended his days there, after having been an actor in 
the events of which he wrote the history. The table used 
by him in writing his history is religiously preserved ; and we 
are told that he labored with such ardor as to pass whole 
days without eating or sleeping. Although in profound re- 
tirement, Guicciardini seems to have been poisoned — a new 
and fatal example that seems to make the destiny of histo- 
rians of those times run parallel with that of their heroes. 
Despite the fatigue caused by his long periods, the author of 
the History of Italy, like all statesmen who have written 



304 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

history, has well explamed and wisely judged the actions of 
which he writes. The loyalty and impartiality of his narra- 
tives is perhaps unique, for he himself is no more spared than 
many of his culpable contemporaries. The last act of Guicci- 
ardini's life was honorable and pure. Although a partisan of 
republican governments, he stood forth alone in the council, 
after the murder of Duke Alexander, for the monarchical 
form, which he caused to be adopted, when he saw that no- 
thing else could guarantee his country against revolutions 
and civil war. 

IV. 

Following the course of the Arno, we rode over the Iron 
Bridge and arrived at the Cascino at the fashionable hour of 
the sunset-drive, having passed among the ^preserves of the 
grand duke which run by the side of the river's bank. The 
agreeable promenade of the Caserne, (Royal Farms,) on the 
banks of the Arno, with its forests of pines, holm-oaks, grass 
plots, pheasants, and rustic . palace, is far superior to the 
generality of those ordinary rendezvous of the vain idlers of 
great cities. The hour of this citizen-promenade varies with 
the seasons ; the equipages are numerous, and many of them 
have chasseurs ; the vanished greatness of thrones and thea- 
tres comes in contact there. The circus of the Cascine, with 
its carriages full of pretty and elegant women, is charming to 
the eye. The common people, too, who repair thither on 
Sundays, are remarkable for their bearing, good mien, be- 
coming dress, and I think there is less difference nowhere, 
between those who go on foot, and the occupants of car- 
riages. 

The prate al Prato which is somewliat beyond the avenues 



Boccaccio's villa. 305 



of the Cascine owes its name to the meadow where the young 
Florentines formerly amused themselves with different games, 
and particularly the Calcio, said to be revived from the 
Greeks, a noble game of ball, to which only soldiers, gentle- 
men, lords and princes were admitted. It was at the gate al 
Prato that Benvenuto Cellini, charged with fortifying it 
during the war against Siena, had that singular dispute with 
the Lombard captain guarding it, to whom he could not make 
his system of fortification understood. The defences of the 
other gates were confided to other artists. Michael Angelo 
had been named director-general of the fortifications of Flo- 
rence, when it was beseiged in 1529, by the imperial and 
pontifical forces. Xear this same gate is the fortress da 
Basso, built by Clement YII., to control the Florentines, a 
monument of San Gallo's science. Other great artists of this 
epoch, most of them endowed with such diversified talent, 
were also engineers, and distinguished themselves by the same 
kind of works. 



On the road to Fiesole, beside the Mugnone torrent, the 
Palmieri villa de^ Trevesi stands conspicuous, called also the 
villa del Boccaccio, the retreat, during the plague of Florence, 
of the company of women and young men who tell the stories 
of the Decameron. This villa, repaired and renovated, is at 
present only a large plain English house ; it cannot be com- 
pared to the bellissimo e ricco palagio of Boccaccio, then deco- 
rated with all the art and magnificence that one would sup- 
pose to belong to a villa of the sixteenth century, and ofi'ering 
un bello e gran cortile net mezzo e con logge e con sale e con camere, 
iutte, dascnna vwsn di se bellissima, e di liete dipinture ragguar- 



306 THE LAXD OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

devole e ornata, con pratelli dattomo e con giardini marivigliosi. 
This villa takes its name from the learned Matteo Palmieri. 
The philosophical, or rather theological poem of Palmieri, al- 
though not printed, acquired some celebrity from its con- 
demnation by the inquisition ; the author asserts therein that 
our souls are the angels that remained neuter when Satan re- 
belled. 

VI. 

La Bad'ia, a superb foundation by Cosmo, the elder, of 
Brunelleschi's architecture, is now in part occupied by the 
Poligrafia Fiesolana. In the ancient refectory, a fresco by 
Giovanni di San Giovanni, a composition at once grave and 
grotesque, represents the Lord ministered to by angels in 
the desert, in which the artist has introduced some female 
angels ; the demon, whom the angels are endeavoring to keep 
off, is the figure of the butler of La Badia, who had given 
the artist stale wine that he might not get drunk while at his 
work. He has also muffled this demon-monk in a capuchin's 
gown, to express his dislike of the good fathers for begging 
so often. 

VII. 

Careggi, two miles from Florence — although, for fifty years, 
a private country-house, and now the Orsi villa — still exists in 
its primitive state. Built by Cosmo, the elder, with Miche- 
lozzo for his architect, it has the aspect of a large square 
tower, with an elegant interior portico. This villa, one of the 
most renowned for historical associations — which, under Lo- 
renzo de' Medici, became one of those sanctuaries where 
ancient poetry and philosophy found such fervent adorers — 
this illustrious villa, in 1834, was let furnished, at 25 sequins 



GARDENS OF CAREGGI, kC. 307 

a month, ($55,) to two old English ladies, whose people un- 
pityinglj repulsed from the house, and even the gardens, all 
Platonic pilgrims. 

The image of Plato was erst inaugurated in these gardens, 
laid out like the groves of Academus, but in purer air ; and 
every year, on the 7 th of November, the anniversary of his 
birth was celebrated there and at Florence, by a sumptuous 
banquet, as the practice was at Athens twelve centuries 
before. 

Careggi witnessed the pastimes and literary familiarity of 
Lorenzo and his friends — Pico della Mirandola, Politian, and 
Marsilio Picino — who ended his days there. In its gardens 
Lorenzo was, perhaps, the first to cultivate a collection of 
uncommon plants. In this place, so intimately connected 
with the Medici, Leo X. passed his infancy, and two of the 
most illustrious characters of that family — the Father of his 
Country, and Lorenzo, the Magnificent — are buried. There, 
too, the latter, attacked with a fierce and unknown disease in 
the forty-third year of his age, when dying, pressed the hand 
of Politian, who turned away his eyes, suffused with tears, and 
was leaving the apartment to give free vent to his grief ; Lo- 
renzo called him back, and expressed his regret that Pico 
della Mirandola had not visited him once during his illness ; 
and when the latter arrived, conversing with them on books 
and philosophy, he said, gayly, that death ought to leave him 
some few days to complete the library he intended for them. 

YIII. 

A contemporary relates a very different scene that followed 
this pathetic parting. The haughty Savonarola, the implaca- 
ble enemy of the Usurpation of the Medici, entered, after a 



308 THE LAXD OF THE CyESAR AND THE DOGE. 

second summons by Lorenzo : — '' I would confess, but am with- 
held by three sins, which almost drive me to despair." — " What 
are they ?" " The first is the sack of Yolterra, in which many 
maidens were violated and unbounded excesses committed ; 
the second, the confiscation of the Monte delh Fanciulle, which 
has caused so many young women to remain unmarried for 
want of portions ; the third, the affair of the Pazzi, in which 
many innocent persons perished." — "Lorenzo, yield not to 
despair, for GOD is merciful, and he will grant you grace if 
you observe the three things I submit to you." — " What are 
they ?" " The first, that you have a strong and living faith 
that GOD can and will pardon you." — " My faith is great." 
"It is further necessary, that everything you possess be re- 
stored to its rightful owner, as far as may be, only leaving to 
your sons what is necessary to private citizens of Florence." 
After reflecting a moment, Lorenzo replied, " It shall be 
done." — "Lastly, Florence must be restored to liberty and 
popular government as under the republic (a uso di republica") 
Lorenzo turned away and answered not, and Savonarola de- 
parted without continuing the* confession farther. 

VALL 'OMBPvOSA. 
IX. 

Now, I pray thee, gentle reader, listen to our litterateur's 
account of his visit to the Ombrosial Yale : — " I was at Yal- 
lombrosa on the Feast of the Assumption ; there was a grand 
dinner at the convent, attended by the priests and many 
Franciscan monks of the neighborhood. That day, the 
monks, in pursuance of a long-established and affecting cus- 
tom, had been allotting dowries to some poor girls. Outside, 



CHARMS OF NATURE. 309 



for all but the dancing, it was the fair of St. Germain or St. 
Cloud ; there were improvisator! singing alternate couplets, 
to the immense gratification of their audience. Although this 
popular feast, in the very bosom of solitude — this contrast of 
woods and rocks crowded with people — was not destitute of 
sweetness or charms, it seemed to me that I lost the severe 
aspect of Yallombrosa. Setting aside all effect produced by 
the festivity I witnessed in those places, I do not believe they 
ever can appear horrible. Yallombrosa has, indeed, some re- 
semblance to our Chartreuse ; but it is a Chartreuse of the 
Apennines, less wild than that of the Alps, with an Italian 
sky and a view of the sea. The superb and gloomy firs that 
envh'on the abbey, were planted in quincunx, some centuries 
ago, and consequently have a regular and symmetrical, rather 
than savage, magnificence. The waters have been ably di- 
rected, and the Vicano there is less a torrent than a fine 
cascade. 

Yallombrosa has been wonderfully sung by the three 
greatest poets who have visited it. Ariosto thus attunes 
his praise : — 

' ' Vallombrosa ; 
(Cosi fu nominata una badia 
Ricca e bella, ne men religiosa, 
E cortese a cliiunque vi venia.)" — Orlando. 

Milton, whose song is — 

" Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks 
In Vallombrosa, where th' Etrurian shades 
High over-arch'd imbower." — Paradise Lost. 

And Lamartine, in ^' L^Ahhaye, dc Vallomb reuse -^ 

HarISIONIE XI. 



310 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 



Benvenuto Cellini says, that he made a pilgriDiage to Yal- 
lombrosa, to thank GOD for his success in the execution of 
certain figures. He started from Florence, guided by his 
workman, Cesare, and chanted hymns and prayers — a strange 
pilgrim — who seems to have occupied himself, during his 
journey, more about gold and silver mines, and fortifications, 
than devotion. 

" Although the monk who received me," says Yalery, " was 
rather taken up with the company at the convent, he showed 
himself, as in times of Roger and Bradamante, when the con- 
vent did not exist, cortese a chiunque vi venia. I asked him for 
the Life of St. Griovanni Gualbert — founder of the Order of 
Yallombrosa — a scarce book, ornamented with pretty en 
gravings. He left me several hours shut up alone in the 
convent ; for everybody was either at church or at table, and 
I could go about as I pleased, reading my quarto Life of the 
Saint — an interesting history, with a touch of romance. 
Independently of his virtues or his character, it must be 
owned, that this monk of the eleventh century, who be- 
longed to a rich and noble family of Florence, was a good 
judge of the beauties of nature, when, while on a pil- 
grimage, he fixed his retreat in such a spot, near these 
majestic forests, picturesque rocks, and clear murmuring 
fountains." 

Above the convent is the hermitage, called // JParadishw, 
or the Celle, situated on the point of a precipitous rock, 
whence the eye discovers the Arno, the fertile plains through 
which it winds, Florence, and the sea. 

Although I did not ascend to the Camaldulites, whence, 



ARIOSTO'S VIEW. 311 



according to Ariosto, both the Mediterranean and Adriatic 
may be seen — 

" Apennin scopre il mar Sciavo e il Tosco," — 

I have rambled over the environs of Yallombrosa. I had 
gone thither on foot from Pelago, by a way inaccessible even 
to mules, and which offered me new and diversified aspects of 
the Apennines. On my return, I took the ordinary road, 
through the woods of firs and chestnuts. I went over the 
fields, and saw some agricultural establishments belonging to 
the monastery. These monks are certainly not retrograde; we 
have seen them portioning girls ; their land is admirably 
cultivated ; and they introduced potatoes into Tuscany. This 
precious tubercle, as our agricultural societies say, grows well 
at Yallombrosa, and the potatoes of this convent have still 
some repute. 

The guide I had taken was one of those peasants of the 
Val cP Arno, with a charming daughter, a brunette, dressed 
in silk, a true type of Italian beauty, lodged in a pretty 
house with a separate room for the girl, possessing that sweet- 
ness and elegance of rustic manners which seemed revived 
from the Shepherds of Arcadia, speaking that pure primitive 
Tuscan, the tongue of Dante and Boccaccio, which Alfieri 
studied in these fields, and which my barbarian ear could not 
appreciate. It is, nevertheless, under the shade of a convent, 
under what is called absolute power, that this astonishing 
civiUzation flourishes — a prodigy that must excite the envy of 
freer and more civilized countries." 

XI. 

Near the steep road leading to the hill of San Miniato, are 
the remains of the bastion and fortifications raised bv Michael 



312 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

Angelo. This great artist, who hastened to shut himself up 
in Florence to repel the attack of foreigners, afterwards re- 
fused to build the citadel that Duke Alexander wished to 
erect for the oppression of his fellow-citizens. The well- 
planned works of Michael Angelo enabled the inhabitants to 
make frequent and effective sorties, and kept the army of 
Charles Y. and Pope Clement VII. in check for eleven 
months, though it amounted to thirty-six thousand men, and 
the Florentines had only sixteen thousand, beside volunteers. 
The means employed by this engineer of genius to protect the 
beautiful steeple of San Miniato from the enemies' balls, have 
been cited as remarkable. He enveloped it with woolen 
mattrasses, and a piece of cannon, placed on the same steeple, 
fired on the besiegers with impunity. Yarchi and other his- 
torians have falsely attributed to fear, the precipitate voyage 
Michael Angelo made to Ferrara ; it is now known that he 
was sent by the Seigniory to the Duke, and this perilous mis- 
sion across the imperial and pontifical lines, must be added to 
the other marks of courage that he displayed during the siege. 



XII. 

San Casciano is a large town, about seven miles from Flo- 
rence, on the road to Siena, on a pleasant and well-cultivated 
hill. But at the Campana, the present indifferent inn, there 
is no Machiavel talking to the peasants, asking them the news 
of the country, playing, shouting, disputing with the landlord, 
the miller, the butcher, and two lime-burners of the place, 
after passing tlie forenoon in birding, in cutting his wood, and 
calming, as he himself confessed, by this low life, (pretty con- 



BOOK OF THE PRINCE. 313 

formable, however, with Italian manners,) the effervescence 
of his brain. The neighboring villa of Machiavel, called La 
Strada a Santa Maria in Fercussina, passed by inheritance to 
the Rangoni family of Modena, can be hired, of late years, for 
ten sequins a month, and' now belongs to the Mazzei family of 
Florence. In this obscure retreat Machiavel composed nearly 
all his works, and his famous Book of the Prince, after putting 
off his peasant's dress in the evening before entering his closet, 
and clothing himself in his court dress. *' Then," he eloquently 
says, " I advance into the antique sanctuary of the great men 
of ancient times ; received by them with kindness and bene- 
volence, I feast on that food which alone is made for me, and 
for which I was born." The Book of the Prince, according 
to his own acknowledgment, was then intended for the use of 
a n«w sovereign. In my opinion, however, there has been too 
general an inclination to regard the maxims of this treatise as 
those of an age in which it appeared, as our De Thou, who 
wrote about the end of that same century, and had visited and 
sojourned in Italy, professes an opinion diametrically opposite. 
Machiavel's writings, his Italian patriotism and statesman-like 
gravity, seemed to have so much preoccupied his different 
biographers, that they have overlooked his real character, 
which commands little esteem during the latter years of his 
life. A part of his works, beginning with the Prince, is only 
a succession of servile petitions addressed to the Medici, his 
enemies, by whom he had been stripped of office, tortured, and 
banished, when nearly fifty, married, father of five children, 
without that kind of independence and social separateness 
which render such errors almost indifferent in the eyes of the 
world, we see him again at San Casciano, inconstant, licen- 
tious, trifling, and prodigal. The two-fold aspect under which 



314 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

MacMavel has portrayed himself at San Casciano, seems to 
present the images of two men co-existing in him — of the 
moral man and the literary man — of his irrational, degraded, 
vulgar life, and his noble and vigorous genius. 

XIII. 

Certaldo, thirty-five miles from Florence, is a pretty village 
on a charming hill, with a brook at its foot. This place is 
immortalized by the origin, residence, and death of Boccaccio, 
who assumed its name (II Certaldese.) He was not born 
there, as supposed ; this creator of Italian prose, this first 
and most elegant of story-tellers, was brought into the world 
at Paris, the fruit of a tender attachment. There are two 
Certaldos ; this, the lower one, is a new village sprang up 
within the last thirty years, and its inhabitants, dealers in 
wood and charcoal, as in Boccaccio's time, are still exactly 
like those he so humorously describes, agiati, (at their ease,) 
and the taste for hearing and telling stories continues popular 
in the country. 

Boccaccio's house, solidly built of brick, with a small 
tower, the monument of this village, is not, like the residence 
of his friend Petrarch at Arqua, relinquished to peasants to 
be made an article of traf&c. There, he led that sweet, rural, 
and philosophical life he has so well described. There, he 
died but a little more than a year after his master and bene- 
factor, Petrarch, and in the centre of the church of St. 
James, still called the Canonica, is a sepulchre, where an 
epitaph announces that 

" H Boccaccio gentil riposa in quelle" 



LEVANTINE COSTUMES. 316 



THE EXCURSION TO LEGHORN. 
XIY. 

The face of the country from Florence to Leghorn, through 
which you are hnpelled by steam-engine, is studded or rather 
covered with towers and battlements in ruins, which recalls a 
scene of warfare and civil discord. Behold the difference be- 
tween epochs of civilization and barbarism ! the quarrels of 
Athens and Sparta, of Rome and Carthage, are immortal ; 
the violent struggles of the republics of the middle ages are 
almost lost in obscurity, notwithstanding the labors of erudite 
historians. The memory of those times of hatred and murder 
strikingly contrast with the gentleness, industry, and easy, 
happy condition of the inhabitants of those same fields. 

Before you reach Leghorn the aspect of the land seems flat 
and dull as you near the sea-shore, and you pass within the 
gates of the city as noiselessly as if you had entered into an 
apparently lifeless town. There is little to interest except its 
business and the superb building of the Lazaretto. The pro- 
menade of Ardenza, laid out in fine walks along the sea-shore, 
is frequented by the fashionable world of Leghorn. This 
even becomes here, in this commercial mart, a kind of trades- 
man's Corso. It has lost of late years the reverie fitness of 
its sea-side, and even the dash of the picturesque supplied by 
the Levantine costume, and instead of fishermen and light 
barks, it presents now only a double line of carriages on 
rough ground and persons in European dresses. 

XV. 

I escaped from Leghorn and its port, and went to Lucca, 
by way of the railroad from Pisa. The situation of Lucca, 



316 THE LAX!) OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 



on a plain, nestled among the mountains near the banks of 
the Serchio, is charming. Several of its churches and palaces 
are very interesting as works of art. 

The vast Cathedral of St. Martin has an exterior front of 
three stories, by the sculptor Guidetto, dating from 1204. A 
lunette, over the little door, has a Deposition from the Cross, 
by Nicolas Pisano, expressive and well composed. The inte- 
rior of the church is principally ornamented with the chefs- 
d^ceuvres of the great Lucchese sculptor, Matteo Civitali, 
whose works are nearly all confined to Lucca and Genoa, 
and who seems like the transition from the true art of the 
fourteenth century to the ideal of the fifteenth. The pulpit 
and octagonal temple are also by him. Among the paintings 
may be remarked, a Last Shipper, by Tintoretto, a CrucifixiGn, 
by Passignano, the Virgin, St. Stephen, and St. John, and a 
delightful little Angel playing on a lute, an excellent composi- 
tion for design, expression and coloring, by Era Bartolommeo. 

The ramparts of Lucca, an ancient fortification, which cost 
the state the pretty round sum of nine hundred and fifty-five 
thousand one hundred and sixty-two crowns, form a long and 
charming promenade, well planted and fit for carriages, infi- 
nitely preferable to most of the dull corsi of Italy ; and from 
it the mountains which surround Lucca, present a fresh and 
pleasing amphitheatre. 

The traveller passing through the Duchy of Lucca, must be 
struck with the pleasing variety of the sites, the richness of 
the hills, covered with vines, olives and chestnuts, and must in 
particular admire the laborious intelligence of the Lucchese, 
an acute and subtle people, good farmers, who may be called 
the Normans of Italy. This astonishing agricultural pros- 
perity, this population which, in proportion with the superficies 



THE CLIMATE OF PISA. 31 1 



of the soil, is one of the most numerous on the earth, proves 
the advantage of small estates ; for nearly all, even the moun- 
taineers, are land-owners. Every year, during the winter 
months, when the labors of husbandry are suspended, the 
great part of the population emigrate and find employment in 
the hard but lucrative labors of the maremme of Tuscany, or 
the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, whence it brings back 
additional capital to increase the public weal. A certain phi- 
losophical improvement seems to have prevailed for a long 
time in this little state, which never had any Jesuits. The 
Encyclopedia was re-printed as early as 1758-tl ; philanthro- 
pical institutions, such as mad-houses and mendicity asylums, 
though small, are numerous and well managed ; and Lucca, 
which was the first town in Italy that had the glory of 
founding an hospital as early as the year 118, was also the 
first in Southern Italy to introduce vaccination, as a public 
measure. 

XVL 

The road back to Pisa led through a fertile valley, teeming 
with luxuriant vegetation, and exhibiting the well-cultivated 
farms of the industrious peasant of this region. Garlands of 
rich-clustering vines hung in graceful festoons, suspended from 
tree to tree ; and the varied culture of fruits, grains and 
shade-trees, lent a fascinating aspect to the intervals of lands 
which bordered the outskirts of the many pretty towns 
through which we passed on the return. On arriving at Pisa, 
I was struck with the serial and beautiful effect of the outside 
of the Duomo, the bronze doors of which edifice exhibit in 
the front some remarkable specimens of castings. Some of 
the best paintings of the interior are the productions of An- 
drea del Sarto. 



318 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

The Duomo, not unlike other churches of Italy consecrated 
to victory, recalls the great battle gained by the Consul of 
the Pisans, Orlandi, when he triumphantly forced the port of 
Palermo, and avenged the affronts his country had received 
from the Saracens. This church, dedicated to the Yirgin, is 
still the most national monument, and the most magnificent 
trophy raised by victory. 

Although Pisa is now little more than a sepulchre, and of 
the hundred and twenty thousand souls it contained under its 
Consuls, only about twenty thousand remain ; although the 
solitude of the streets is such that some of them have echoes, 
and that of two foreigners I knew there, the one who wagered 
they should meet no one in riding round its walls, won, its 
four grand monuments and University, still place it among the 
capital cities of Italy. Its climate, when not horribly rainy, 
as I have experienced it, with Alfieri — 

" Mezzo dormendo ancoi' doinando : Piove ? 
Tutto la intera notte egli h piovuto, 
Sia maladetta Pisa ! ognor ripiove ; 
Anzi, a dir meglio, e' non e mai spiovuto," etc. 

" Half asleep I ask again, ' Does it rain .' ' 
Already hath it rain'd the live-long night ; 
Cursed be Pisa ! for it always rains," &c. — 

is cited for its mildness in winter. Pisa then revives a little ; 
the grand duke lives there several months, and it is the re- 
sort of the weak, delicate, and indisposed, who have sometimes 
found benefit from its air. 

XVII. 

The four principal monuments of Pisa — the Duomo, Bap- 
tistery, Leaning Tower, Carapo Santo — all standing in one 



CAMPO SANTO. 319 



square at the extremity of the towu, rich, ornamented, ma- 
jestic, have an extraordinary aspect ; one might call it a part 
of some deserted Eastern city. 

The Baptistery, a kind of museum of fragment, and orna- 
ments of antique sculpture, built in an incredibly short space 
of time, contains a splendid Pulpit, by Nicolas Pisano. 

The CaTTipanik, or the celebrated Leaning Tower, built in 
11*14, one of the six best towers in Italy, is remarkable for its 
lightness, the beauty of the marble, its singular form, and the 
workmanship of its staircase. The prodigy of its inclination of 
eleven feet three inches, probably arose from the giving away 
of the soil, when discovered too late to discontinue its progress. 
The prospect is wonderful, from the contrasts presented by the 
aspect of the rich surrounding fields, baths, aqueducts, the 
sea, Leghorn and its port. The inclination of this tower was 
useful to Galileo, to find the measure of time and calculate 
the fall of heavy bodies. These old monuments, of such curi- 
osity and importance with respect to art, are also mementoes 
of the grandest discoveries of science ; for it was by observing 
the regular and periodical motion of a lamp suspended from 
the roof of the cathedral, that the measure of time by the 
pendulum was revealed to Galileo — an idea which he realized 
fifty years afterwards, by executing a clock for astronomical 
purposes. Thus are they a two-fold honor to Italy. 

By the way of Empoli, we went back to Florence, because 
the Campo Santo — that funereal museum of all ages and 
nations, and splendid style of sepulchral architect — did not 
please us. 

Thus, having concluded our excursion, by reversing the 
order of the poet, from ''gay to grave," we returned to Flo- 
rence by the charming country lying about Empoli, and 



320 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

over its hills, which were then decked out in every variety of 
foliage and verdure that nature could bestow upon the fertile 
banks of the valley of the Arno. 

By this hurried glance at the Mediterranean, at Leghorn, 
and the ride to Pisa, we had been enabled to settle the dis- 
puted points of the Leaning Tower, and were left at ease to 
proceed on our way to Venice, by the way of Bologna and 
Padua, 



FLORENCE TO BOLOGNA. 

BY DILIGENCE. 

About sunset, in the early part of June, we left Florence 
by the Gate of San Gallo, and were soon lost in a cloud of 
dust and darkness. The "San Gallo" had been erected in 
It 39, to commemorate the accession of the House of Lorraine 
to the throne of Tuscany, at the death of Gaston, the last of 
the Medici, an impotent and foolish prince. It was through 
this gate that the great Maria Theresa, with her consort, the 
new sovereign Francis IL, made their entry. Although 
copied from the arch of Constantine, this Lorraine triumphal- 
arch is very inferior in grandeur and character to the Roman 
arches ; but it was not, like them, and most monuments of 
the kind in Europe, erected by the woes of humanity ; and, 
instead of a haughty, oppressive domination, it recalls the go- 
vernment of paternal and beneficent princes. It is, notwith- 
standing, the only gate in Florence worthy of notice ; and, as 
we said above, we were driven under its portals when we passed 
from the city towards Bologna. 

Our road commenced with an ascent up a mountain, and 
continued so until deep sleep and the deeper shadows of the 
night so enveloped us, as to preclude any ideas of our progress 
or our position in the country. 

We woke up next morning, just at the Pontifical Dogano, 
where an ugly official asked us for our passports, and there, 



322 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

having breakfasted and remounted, we were soon ready to 
enter into all the wildness, grandeur, and sublimity of that 
sterile and rugged rock-ribbed district, laid down on the maps 
of Italy as the region of the Apennines — a poetical and 
strictly appropriate title, we conceived it to be, derived from 
a penna, for these hills were as barren of trees as Plato's man 
was, in the type of a cock without feathers. 



The road from Florence to Bologna crosses the Apennines, 
which, on this side, have an appearance altogether different 
from the grandeur of the Alps ; they present neither the rude 
sky nor the harsh green of the firs on the latter ; they neither 
resound with the roar of torrents or cascades, nor the crashing 
of the avalanche. Xo majestic rivers or limpid streams origi- 
nate there ; the vegetation is colorless and scrubby ; while, 
instead of the bold and precipitous peaks of the Alps, darting 
straight upward to the skies, the Apennines resemble a pile 
of hills heaped on each other — one would almost say that they 
had been built, and, like other edifices, that the weakness of 
man requires ages on ages to complete, they also seem to 
have been interrupted and resumed. 

A very fine storm witnessed, in the month of June, among 
these gloomy, arid, naked mountains, gave them, however, 
some animation and a dash of grandeur. The effect of the 
rainbow and an Italian sun, piercing the clouds and pouring a 
flood of light into the valley, was marvelous. 

It was not until within a few miles of Bologna, that their 
slopes seemed to have been subdued into cultivation ; and 
where the first pleasing indications of the fruits of industry 
were observed, the estates of the Prince Pii showed forth the 



TOWN ASPECT. UXIVERSITT. 323 



towers of this branch of Savoy nobility. Thence, to the 
very gates of the walls of Bologna, followed a succession of 
pretty villas and farms, which dotted the road-side, so as to 
form a delightful and beautiful entrance to the long-arched 
highway of this brilliantly white-washed Bologna, so celebrated 
for its sausages and literary women. 



III. 

This first impression produced by the common-place appear- 
ance of the town, was soon effaced. Bologna is still justly 
regarded as one of the most illustrious cities of Italy. 
Although it never was the residence of a court, and has long 
ceased to be a seat of government, it is not surpassed in 
civilization by the first capitals ; it has the dignity of science, 
and still exhibits, in manners, spirit, and opinions, something 
of its ancient device, lihertas, which it has retained. Bologna 
is said to have been the town preferred by Lord Byron to 
all others in Italy. 

IV. 

The University of Bologna, well known to be the oldest in 
Italy, witnessed some of the finest discoveries achieved by the 
mind of man, besides the first dissection of the human body 
and galvanism. The celebrity of its learned professors ex- 
tended even to the civil troubles of 1831, when Yaleriani, 
professor of political economy — Tommasini, of the theory and 
practice of medicine — Orioli, of natural philosophy — Mezzo- 
fanti, of Greek and Oriental languages — and Schiassi, of 
archeology, held their chairs with distinction. Bologna pos- 
sesses the few new faculties, the professorship of which, were 



324 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

divinity, law, medicine and surgery, sciences and letters, 
(philology.) The medical studies predominate over the other 
branches of instruction. 

V. 

The University of Bologna is embellished with that pro- 
fusion of art common to Italy. The front is by Pelligrini, 
and the fine spacious court by Bartolommeo Triachini, a 
Bolognese artist, of the sixteenth century. The paintings in 
the cabinet of natural philosophy, by Nicolas dell 'Abate, are 
graceful, and the fine frescoes of Pelligrini, in the Loggiato, 
were thought worthy of imitation by the Carracci. This 
learned institution has not, therefore, been foreign to the 
progress of painting. 

In the middle of the Court, a Hercules at Rest, is a singular 
work of Angelo Pio. Statues have been erected in this court 
and on the staircase to several of the professors. Bologna 
might have shown there some of its ancient masters. I 
should have been better pleased to have seen the features of 
that Novella d' Andrea, daughter of a famous canonist of the 
fourteenth century, so learned that she acted as her father's 
substitute, and so handsome, that in order not to distract the 
attention of the students, she had, according to Christina de 
Pisan, a little curtain before her, probably over the holy ca- 
nons, when lecturing. The ladies of Bologna are still remark- 
able for their learning. It was said in an eulogy of Mile. De- 
launay, by her husband, that she was better acquainted with 
the human body than any other lady in France. The Univer- 
sity had conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws and Medicine 
on two ladies. Ginguene thinks it contrary to nature for la- 
dies to teach : — "We could hardly allow women to assume 



THE LEARNED BEAUTY. MEZZOFANTI. 325 

the habit of the Nine ; how should we then suffer them to 
take a doctor's costume V This French exaggeration is 
founded on utter ignorance of the ancient manners and cus- 
toms of Italy : — " Is there any harm in knowing Greek ?" a 
question to which Corinne puts an excellent answer in the 
mouth of her ingenuous compatriots : — *' Is it WTong to earn a 
living by one's own exertions ? Why do you laugh at such 
a simple affair ?" Doubtless, it was the attraction of these 
literary ladies that must have occasioned Byron's preference 
for Bologna, as one of the most delightful residences in Italy. 



The Museum of Antiquities contains the celebrated frag- 
ment of the mystic mirror called the Cospiana Patera, repre- 
senting the Birth of Minerva, who issues, armed cap-a-pie, from 
Jupiter's brain, whilst Yenus is caressing him — a relic which 
shows that the ancients were possessed of the art of en- 
graving. 

VII. 

The University Library has eighty thousand volumes and 
four thousand manuscripts. The most renowned librarian was 
the late Abbe Mezzofanti, afterward Prefect of the Vatican, 
and cardinal, who was famous throughout Europe for his vast 
acquirements in languages, of which, including dialects, he 
knew over thirty-two. Such learning is truly prodigious, for 
this philologist and distinguished Orientalist was even con- 
versant with several rustic brogues, and was truly an apostle 
for the gift of tongues as well as piety. In the " Detached 
Thoughts" of Lord Byron, published at the end of his Me- 
moirs, reflections so true, natural and pathetic, are the follow- 
ing remarks on the Abbe Mezzofanti : — " I do not recollect 



826 THE LAND OF TPTE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

a single foreign literary character that I wished to see twice, 
except, perhaps, Mezzofanti, who is a prodigy of learning, a 
Briar eus of the parts of speech, a walking library, who ought 
to have lived at the time of the tower of Babel, as universal 
interpreter — a real miracle, and without pretension too. I 
tried hun in all the languages of which I knew only an oath 
or adjuration of the gods against postillion, savages, pirates, 
boatmen, sailors, pilots, gondoliers, muleteers, camel-drivers, 
vetturini, post-masters, horses and houses, and everything in 
post 1 and, by heaven ! he puzzled me in my own idiom." 

ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS. 
VIII. 

The Gallery of Bologna, consisting principally of the chief s- 
d^couvres of the Bolognese school, is an admirable national 
ornament. It is an especial glory for a town to have given 
bu-th to so many eminent scholars and brilliant artists. By a 
peculiarly happy arrangement some of the most ancient paint- 
ings are placed at the entrance of the gallery, thus affording an 
excellent means of observing and following the progress of the 
art. As in literature, some fine works of the earlier times, 
placed by themselves, precede the real chefs-cfauvres ; the 
superiority of the latter is not thereby weakened, but ac- 
counted for. The Yirgins of Francia, who founded the 
Bolognese school, are full of simplicity, gracefulness and free- 
dom of outline, like elegance and perfection in style, can only 
be attained by practice and study. The Holy Family, by 
Innocente d'Imola, a pupil of Francia, is one of the finest 
holy families extant, and already worthy of Raphael. A 
copy of it was taken in 1 826, for the King of Prussia, who is 



COQUETTE MAGDALEN. 32t 



said to have experienced profound emotion at the sight of this 
painting, so powerfully did the figure of the Yirgin call to 
mind the features of his ycung and noble consort. 

IX. 

The Carracci are like a tribe of painters, of which Ludovico 
is the worthy chief ; his Transfiguration is in imitation of 
Correggio and the Yenetians, but full of grandeur and inspira- 
tion, the only good ; in the Conversion of St. Paul, on the 
contrary, he is himself, and not less admirable. The cele- 
brated Martyrdom of St. Agnes, by Domenichino, is a com- 
position altogether dramatic, exciting terror and pity in the 
highest degree. 

The grief portrayed in Guido's Madonna delta pieta is not 
of the earth, but, if the word may be allowed, of heaven. 
This work exhibits the greatest variety of perfections in the 
several parts — from the gracefulness of the little angels below, 
to the affliction of the virgins and angels weeping above. 
Among the beautiful productions of the Bolognese school are 
some master-pieces of other schools, such as the immortal St. 
Cecilia, by Raphael. There is a vast difference between the 
pious enthusiasm, the mystical frenzy of this patron of mu- 
sicians, and the profane charms of the muse Euterpe. Music, 
like speech, seems really a gift of GOD, when it appears under 
such an emblem. How shall I describe the perfections of such 
a painting ? — the ardor, the triumphant joy of the seraphim 
singing the sacred hymn in heaven, the purity and simplicity 
of the saint's features, so well contrasted with the frivolous 
and coquettish air of Magdalen ? Worthily to render all 
these beauties, one must be able to exclaim with Correggio, 
when he first contemplated this work, " Anch' lo son pittore !" 



328 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

The St. Margaret kneeling before ike Virgin and Infant Jesus, 
by Parmegiano, was honored by the admiration of the Car- 
racci and Guido, who studied it ; the head of the Yirgin and 
the Saints are sublime and affecting, as are all the many 
figures of women that adorn this museum. In this respect 
the gallery is truly enchanting, and never did beauty appear 
more exquisite or in greater variety. 



The elegant Church of St. Petronius, which takes prece- 
dence even of the ancient Cathedral of Bologna, the Palaces 
of the Comune and Publico, or of the Hercolani, whose library 
contains a manuscript register of Guercino's expenditures, 
which evidence the exceeding charity and liberality of this 
artist, afforded us their pleasing contrast to the white-washed 
walls and monotonous arcades which every other view of the 
city presented. The public square of Bologna unites nearly 
all the remarkable edifices of the place, and prominent among 
these are the towers of Asinelli and La Garisenda. 

XI. 

Of all the towers, domes, steeples, and light-houses, that a 
traveller, blessed with a conscience and legs, may have to 
climb, one of the very rudest to ascend is, doubtless, the 
Asinelli, for its winding stair-way, a kind of long ladder, is so 
little practicable. This tower, the most elevated in Italy, 
and even some feet higher than the dome at the InvaKdes, is 
sometimes used for astronomical observations. I should not 
be much surprised, though very sorry, if one of the astronomers 
who mount it, were one day to experience the accident of La 
Fontaine's astrologer. 



LEANING TOWERS. 329 



The view is pleasing : it has neither the immensity of that 
from the Duomo of Milan, nor the unique horizon of the 
steeple of St. Mark, but the plain is smiling ; and the Apen- 
nine, on this side, instead of its arid summits, only presents a 
succession of pretty well-wooded hills, covered with charming 
villas. 

XII. 

The leaning tower near the Asinelli is not so high, but the 
Garisenda has supphed Dante with one of his numberless 
picturesque images, in which he compares the giant, who 
stoops to seize him and his guide, to this tower, when the 
clouds are flying above its battlements : — 

" Qual pare a riguardar la Garisenda 
Sotto '1 chinato, quand' un nuvol vada 
Sovr' essa, si, ch'ella in contrario penda ; 
Tal parve Anteo." — Inf xxxi. 

The inclination of the Grarisenda is not an effect of art, but 
of the sudden sinking of the soil. It is amazing that it has 
since withstood so many violent earthquakes. It appears, 
henceforth, immovable, like certain minds, that an early ca- 
tastrophe has much rather surprised than overwhelmed, and 
which seem, on the contrary, strengthened bv the fall. 



BOLOGNA TO VENICE. 

BY FERRARA. 



I MUST confess that the loss of a wheel, by the breaking of 
our tire, was the only incident which marred the course of 
our otherwise pleasant journey, as we travelled by vetturino, 
from the gates of Bologna, toward the walls of Ferrara, This 
dull and deserted town, whose " wide and grass-grown streets" 
still breathe a kind of courtly grandeur and magnificence, and 
the castle, which is occupied by the legate, with its bridges, 
towers, and elegant balustrades, still retains in its exterior a 
fairy-like air, in accordance with its poetical recollections. I 
was much struck by its aspect on the evening of my arrival, 
as I contemplated it by moonlight, which was reflected in its 
broad and brimming moat. My visit to the apartments on 
the morrow completely dissipated the illusion— they had been 
freshly painted by an artist and dillettante of Ferrara — and, as 
I looked around inquisitively for some traces of the sojourn of 
the princely house of Este, the custode apprised me, with an 
air of self-complacency, that there was not a single corner left 
untouched by his Highness. Could I have suspected such a 
disappointment, I think I should have despised the castle like 
Michael Angelo, when, as he passed incognito to Ferrara, 
during the siege of Florence, on being invited by Duke Al- 
phonso to lodge in the palace, he proudly chose to remain at 
his inn. 



FANATIC POET. 331 



II. 

The Cathedral, of the twelfth century, still retains the 
Gothic character of its exterior, and its front is covered with 
uninjured basso-relievos representing the Life of Jesus Christ, 
the Last Judgment, the Seven Mortal Sins, with numberless 
emblems, sacred, grotesque, profane, and even something 
more. On one side is the Statue of Albert d^Este, in a pil- 
grim's dress, who returned from Rome in 1390, and 

" Rapporte de son august e enceinte 
Non des lauriers cueillis au champ de Mars 
Mais des agnus avec des indulgences, 
Et des pardons et des belles dispenses," 

i. e., deeds and bulls that are seen in sculpture there. 

III. 

The Library of Ferrara, and the house of Ariosto, are the 
boast and monument of the Ferrarese ; and Tasso is their 
glory and their shame. His prison will be enough to excite 
compassion for his fate and sufferings, and disgust at the in- 
gratitude of Alphonso. Goethe maintains that the story of 
his imprisonment is an idle tale, and as such, only shows the 
mistaken enthusiasm of Byron, who was shut up in the cell of 
Tasso by the porter, at his own request. "He staid there 
two hours making violent gestures, striding about, striking his 
forehead, or with his head sunk on his chest and his arms 
hanging down, according to the porter's story, who watched 
him ; and when the latter went to rouse him from his reverie, 
Byron gave him his fee, saying, ' Ti ringrazie, buon uomo\ i 
pensieri del Tasso stanno ora tutti nella niia mente e nel mio 
more r — 'I thank thee, good man, the thoughts of Tasso all 



332 THE LAND OF THE CJiSAR AND THE DOGE. 

remain in my head and in my heart I' " Shortly after his de- 
parture from Ferrara he composed his Lament of Tasso, 
which sadly betrays some such inspiration. 

IV. 

The Po is the limit of the Papal States, and it was passed 
at Ponte di Lagoscuro, where a simple ferriage is obtained by 
the force of current acting upon a number of small boats, 
which are connected together by a series of ropes. The fron- 
tiers are very strictly guarded by the restrictions and annoy- 
ances of the Papal officers of the customs — men who will 
make the most minute inspection of your stock of books, in a 
very civil and polite manner, and as if they felt somewhat em- 
barrassed even at being engaged in a very ridiculous business. 
Beyond the Po is the small and rather noisy town of Rovigo, 
with a great square, in which stand several tall red masts. 

The road from Rovigo is regularly planted with shade trees 
as far as Monselice ; so much so, as to become monotonous 
from too great an extent of fine road, and a little mountain 
would be somewhat acceptable. Monselice, however, breaks 
the even tenor of the way and lifts its picturesque heights 
above the plain beyond. 

v. 

Arqua, four leagues from Padua, is celebrated as the burial 
place of Petrarch ; for, says Byron — 

" There is a tomb in Arqu^, rear'd in air, 
Pillar'd in their sarcophagus, repose 
The bones of Laura's lover." — Childe Harold, xxx. 

On the road we passed by a great picturesque manor- 
house, called Ca^taio, formerly noted for the paintings of Ze- 
lotti and its museum of antiquities. 



PETRARCH AND LAURA. 333 

The situation of Arqua, amid tlie Euganean hills, too often 
sung, but little known, is delicious. Childe Harold and its 
notes contain a poetical and minute description of the site ; 
but, while describing the beauty of the orchards of Arqua, 
and of its little groves of mulberry-trees and willows, inter- 
laced with festoons of vines, it would have been just to men- 
tion its excellent figs, which enjoy a well-merited reputation 
in this country. 

VI. 

Petrarch's house is at the end of the village. On the walls 
of the chambers are some coarse paintings relating to his 
love, taken from the first canzione. 

A register is kept there, to receive the names of visitors, 
and their thoughts, if they happen to have any. I confess, 
however, that I am no great partisan of those eternal inscrip- 
tions which so many travellers seem to think almost obliga- 
tory. It appears to me, that the multitude of vulgar names 
which crowd the tomb of a great man intrude upon the sanctity, 
silence, and calm of the grave. This inscribing-vanity has its 
selfishness and vandalism. The lodges of Raphael, the fres- 
coes of other great artists, already so much injured by age, 
are still further spoiled and disfigured by the list of all itine- 
rary scribblers. 

Petrarch's real or metaphysical love for Laura is, perhaps, 
one of the most controverted and least explained questions 
in history. From his labors, discoveries, encouragement and 
sacrifices, he must be regarded as the real creator of letters in 
Europe. 

" They keep his dust in Arqud, where he died." 



334 THE LAXD OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



PADUA. 
YII. 

I must confess that the banks of the Brenta, after passing 
Padua, seemed far from deserving the praise lavished upon 
them. Padua in the rain appeared to me a great, long, 
melancholy-looking town, although I arrived there in June ; 
and had it not been for the Cafe Pedrocchi, which stood near 
the inn, I should have been at a loss for amusement, for the 
Cathedral was remote, and the gardens of Padua were under 
a flood. 

The elegant and spacious coffee-house is a structure of too 
beautiful an architecture to be passed over in silence. It is 
used not only for the ordinary custom of the proprietor, but 
served as an assembly-room and casino, and is certainly one 
of the most magnificent inns in the world. All the columns, 
the walls and the pavement are marble ; there is not even a 
bit of stucco ; and, unless a person were apprised of the reality, 
such a building would appear to him much more like a palace 
or a temple, than a coffee-house. 



THE LAND or THE DOGE 



Ecco, sorger dall acque io veggo altera 
La canuta del mar saggia reina, . . ." 
Alfieri Sonnet. 



VENICE. 



ON THE LAGOON. 



The railroad from Milan, which has been extended to 
Yenice, has almost taken from the queen of the Adriatic her 
peculiar character and wondrous aspect. 

It would be difficult to describe the impression produced 
on its first appearance from the bridge over the Lagoon. I 
entered Yenice about sundown, while the rich sunset diffused 
its magical effects through the diaphanous veil of mist which 
lingered after a recent shower, and its gorgeous hues instilled 
" the odorous purple of the new-born rose" over the surface of 
its glassy waters. The paler colors of evening fled ere the 
myriad of lights were reflected like spectral forms upon the 
bosom of the canal, when her palaces and, domes were filled 
with tapers, and the charms of enchantment came down upon 
its waves, to lend its mysterious influence to my first vision of 
this peculiar city. 

The multitude of domes, temples, palaces, columns, rising out 
of the bosom of the waters, looked at a distance like a city 
under water, and produced a feeling of surprise and fear. Her 
palaces seemed to rise out of the sea ; and the churches sat so 
easily upon the waters, that a feeling of sudden engulfment 
appeared to be among the most natural fancies of the moment. 
The lighting up of St. Mark's at the hour of my arrival, con- 
tinued to heighten the magic of the spell. I could scarcely 



338 THE LAND OF THE C>ESAR AND THE DOGE, 

imagine that I was at the end of my journey and the de- 
stined place of my sojourn. 

The paintings of Canaletto have so familiarized us with the 
harbor, the squares, and monuments of Yenice, that, when 
we penetrate into the city itself, it appears as if already known 
to us. 

II. 

The chief peculiarity of Venice is its insulated position in 
the Lagoon, and you move about Venice entirely by gondola. 
To use any other mode of conveyance would be but to 
disturb the high associations connected with this " queen of 
the seas," and would be attended with no less inconvenience 
than fatigue. What could be more pleasant than the noiseless 
tread of waters in a floating barge ? What more myste- 
riously fascinating than a passage around and among her 
palaces and churches, in a dark and mystic boat, with nothing 
to disturb your reveries but the light splash of the well-turned 
oar, or the long cry of a passing gondolier ? To have missed 
the sight of Venice would have been to have blotted out a 
day ! Next to Rome, what city is freighted with such pleasing 
memories of the past ? To look upon St. Mark's place by 
moonlight was hke a waking dream of Elysium. 

III. 

Bonington, an English artist of a melancholy cast, has 
painted some new views of Venice, in which he has sketched 
its present state of desolation ; these, compared with those of 
the Venetian painter, resemble the picture of a woman still 
beautiful, but worn down by age and misfortune. 

All those gondolas, hung in black, a species of floating 
sarcophagi, look as if they were in mourning for the city ; and 



"ah! eh 1" GONDOLIER. 339 

the gondolier, instead of singing the verses of Ariosto and 
Tasso, is neither more nor less than a poor boatman, with but 
little poetry in his composition, whose only song is a harsh, 
screaming "ah I eh 1" at the turning of each calk, to avoid 
the danger of collision with other gondolas that are not un- 
mediately visible. 

IV. 

This aspect of Venice has a something in it more gloomy 
than that of ordinary ruins. Other ruins may decay with 
beauty ; here these new ruins will rapidly perish, and this Pal- 
myra of the sea, retaken by the avenging element from which 
it was conquered, will leave no trace behind. I^o time ought 
to be lost in visiting "Venice, to contemplate the works of Ti- 
tian, the frescoes of Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese, the 
statues, the palaces, the temples and the mausoleums of San- 
sovino and Palladio, which are tottering on the very verge of 
destruction. Her singular position on the bosom of the waves, 
disposes one to many hours of reverie and repose ; and even 
now, in her decline, she seems to have slept away from the 
date of her ancient glories, as listlessly as she herself seems to 
have slidden off from the terra firma of the shore. 



Some years ago, a bold plan was proposed by a zealous 
Venetian, in order to prevent the ruins of his city, which was 
to join Venice to the Continent. A road of communication 
was to have been made at the narrowest point of the Lagoon. 
This has, in a measure, been superseded by the railroad from 
Milan, a project no less useful, though not so poetical or 
imaginative in its aspect. 



340 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



PIAZZA OF ST. MARK. 
VI. 

The Piazza of St. Mark's has not its like in the world ; the 
East and West are there brought into each other's presence. 
On one side, the Ducal Palace, with the indented architec- 
ture, the balconies and galleries of Arabian monuments, and 
the Church of St. Mark, with its angular front and lead- 
covered cupolas, remind the beholder of a mosque at Constan- 
tinople or Cairo ; on the other, regular arcades, with shops, 
similar to the Palais-Royal at Paris. The same contrast is 
to be found among the men : — there are Armenians, Turks, 
Greeks — some lying down, others taking coffee and sherbet 
under large awnings of different brilliant colors, resembliog 
tents — some smoking perfumes in their long amber-tipped 
pipes of rosewood — (a crowd of indolent and majestic auto- 
mata) — while European travellers, and others, occupied with 
their business, are hurriedly passing to and fro. 

The infinite number of pigeons that cover the Piazza of St. 
Mark's, the cupola of the church, and the roofs of the ducal 
palace, add also to the oriental aspect of these monuments. 
These pigeons have been in Yenice from its earliest days, and 
such was the interest they excited, that, to comply with the 
wishes of the public, it was decreed that they should not only 
remain unmolested but be fed at the expense of the state. 

VII, 

Venice still palpitates in the Piazza of St. Mark's. This 
brilliant decoration costs a million annually in repairs ; while 
other distant quarters, some of which possess magnificent pa- 



THE HEART OF VENICE. 341 

laces, are left to fall into ruins. This corpse of a city, to use 
the expression of Cicero's friend, is already cold at the ex- 
tremities — the life and heat remaining are confined to the 
heart. Florian's coffee-house, under the arcades Procuratie 
Niwve, has not survived the decline and fall of the city. Flo- 
rian was formerly the confidant and universal agent of the 
Yenetian nobility, and the friend of Canova, who never forgot 
the kindness of the .benefactor of his youth, and modeled his 
leg and foot so that the shoemaker could take his measure 
without putting the gouty Florian to pain. 

This leg of a coffee-house keeper appears to me no less 
honorable to Canova than his Theseus ; it is pleasing to 
esteem him as a man whom we admire as an artist. 

VIII. 

At the extremity of the Piazza there are three 'pili or flag- 
staffs, which formerly bore the glorious standard of St, Mark, 
now replaced by the Austrian flag. The pedestals of these 
masts are in bronze, by Leopardo, and possess the elegance 
and taste of the Grrecian artists. Independently of the great 
pains taken by the artist, they are so beautifully polished that 
the figures have all the appearance of having just quitted the 
workshop ; whereas they have been there upwards of three 
centuries, exposed to the injury of the air, the African siroc- 
cos, and to the misty saline spray of the raging Adriatic. 

CHURCH OF ST. MARK. 
IX. 

The basilic of St. Mark's, begun about the tenth century by 
the Doge Orsolo, is of a checkered architecture, a mixture of 



342 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

Greek and Koman, but more especially Gothic. On looking 
at her minarets, mosaics, sculptures, basso-relievos, and ara- 
besques of ornamental art, one feels that the Adriatic has been 
wedded to the East, and that those peculiarities which are 
usually received from strangers, here, have only been trans- 
ferred in the varieties of her commerce. There are brilliantly- 
blended Grecian elegance, Byzantian luxury, and the talents 
of the Venetian masters. On seeing these splendid compart- 
ments — the golden-arched roofs, the pavement of jasper and 
porphyry, the five hundred columns of black, white, and 
veined marble, of bronze alabaster, vert antique, and ser- 
pentine — one would feel inclined to take this Christian temple, 
except that it is somewhat too gloomily lighted, to be a pa- 
lace of the Arabian Nights. Religion has preserved all these 
riches, which might have been dissipated in the speculations 
and enterprises of a commercial and navigating people. The 
wrecks of the magnificence of ancient Rome ornament the 
cathedrals of the modern city, its successor. St. Mark's has 
collected the costly spoils of Constantinople. Italy tlms em- 
braces the ruins of these two imperial cities. 



The be.nitier, or holy-water vase, of porphyry, is supported 
by an antique altar of Grecian sculpture, ornamented with 
dolphins and tridents. One of the bronze doors of the bap- 
tistery appears to have been brought from the basilic of St. 
Sophia. The bronze gate of the vestry occupied thirty years 
of Sansovino's existence. The grand chandelier of St. Mark's, 
notwithstanding the oddness of its base, is considered one of 
the most remarkable works of its kind, for the taste and na- 
ture of the figures and the elegance of the ornaments. The 



STONES OF VENICE. 343 



very stones of Venice are indelibly impressed with her history. 
A red marble pavement marks the nave of the ancient church 
of St. Germain, and the original limit of the place of St. 
Mark. A white stone, not far thence, in a retired street, 
shows where the Cataline of Yenice, Boemondo Tiespolo, was 
killed by the accidental fall of a flower-pot, dislodged by a 
curious old woman, who was watching his procession, as he 
passed beneath her window. 

XI. 

St. Mark's presents also a collection of relics of the greatest 
antiquity, the various mementoes of conquest and revolution. 
The four famous horses of Corinth, or the Carrousel, have re- 
sumed their former position on the tribune, over the principal 
door. Never was a trophy of victory more modestly placed, 
or worse, for they are scarcely perceptible. Won at Constan- 
tinople, brought back from Paris, these Greeks or Roman 
steeds are associated with the two grandest instances of taken 
towns that history records. 

XII. 

The Lion of St. Mark's is replaced on his column, though 
mutilated ; he ought never to have left it. Though insig- 
nificant as a work of art, at Yenice it was a public and na- 
tional emblem of its ancient power. It is venerable on the 
piazza of St. Mark's ; but on the esplanade of the Invalides, it 
was only a superfluous mark of the bravery of our warriors, 
less noble than all those tattered flags taken on the battle- 
field, and suspended in the nave of the church. It was, more- 
over, a singularly ilkjudged and odious act of a rising Repub- 
lic to humiliate, and spoil of the vestiges of their past glory 



344 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

such old Republics as Venice and Genoa. The Sacro Catino, 
and the Lion of St. Mark were there, patriotic monuments 
worthy of respect ; elsewhere they sunk into mere shop or 
cabinet curiosities, the prey of ruthless conquest. 

The Campanile of St. Mark is a bold structure, and one of 
the solidest and most elevated in Italy, or even Europe. The 
ascent to its summit is by a path — a real foot-path — of brick, 
smooth, and without steps ; so that you will not be too 
fatigued, when you arrive at the belfry, to enjoy the view. 
Thence you clearly observe how Yenice sits "queen of the 
waters," and ocean-born, like Yenus, her namesake, and proto- 
type of birth and beauty, springs into life from the sea. The 
numerous little islands sleeping on the bosom of the Lagoon, 
are apt suggestions of her attendant nymphs. This panorama 
— not only embracing the sea, Yenice rising from its bosom, 
the resplendent verdure of the fields on terra firma, the hoary 
tops of the Frioul Alps, the crowd of islets grouped around this 
imposing city, but including also the coast of Istria, Italian 
Tyrol, Padua, and the Adriatic — presents a point of view 
which may almost be called a prodigy. 



on. 

But it is at evening that the Piazza of St. Mark awakes a 
golden or Gothic vision of Eastern splendor and architectural 
grace. Then the noble old Duomo, with its gilded cupola, 
silvered over with a rich frosting of moonlight, revives the 
tales of the Arabian Nights, or the splendors of the vales of 
the Alhambra. ISTear by, stands the old Clock Tower, where 
two mechanical figures strike the hours as they pass ; and on 
both sides are the facades of the Procuratie palaces, those 



giant's stairs. 345 



brilliant structures of Sansoviiio's genius, displaying the per- 
fection of their architectural symmetry. 

Amid all these, the high, grand, luminous mass of the Cam- 
panile looms upward towards the sky, towering above all, and 
guardian of that scene of magical effects below, where the 
crowds of motley wear are moving in promenade, over the 
pavement, or seated at table with their ices, under the 
arcades of the palaces of St. Mark. 

DUCAL PALACE. 
XIV. 

The Ducal Palace — the boast of Yenice — by its architecture 
and stern, gloomy aspect, gives no bad representation of its 
ancient government ; it is the capitol of aristocratic power ; 
its origin, even, is surrounded with terrors ; the Doge wlio 
began it, Marino Faliero, lost his head, and the architect, 
Filippo Calendario, was hung as a conspirator. The names, 
too, of some parts of it, are in unison with the impression it 
produces. The Gianfs Stairs, a superb structure, witnessed 
the coronation of the Doges, and the Bridge of Sighs has the 
shape of a large sarcophagus suspended over the sea. A 
palace, a prison, and a tribunal, one might say, if the word 
centralization were not ridiculous, applied under such circum- 
stances, that the Ducal Palace had the first and most terrible 
example. 

XV. 

Notwithstanding the heavy, forbidding appearance of the 
Ducal Palace, the interior has some rich works of art, which 
adorn her ceilings, and cause you to forget the terrors of the 
Inquisition, the Lion's Mouth, or deep dungeons of the Pozzi. 



346 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

Its exterior has some elegant details, and in some parts is re- 
markable, in an artistic point of view. The capitals of the 
Tuscan columns, in the front, ornamented with foliage, figures, 
and symbols, original master-pieces of a taste at once bold and 
pure, and so interesting for the history of art, are chiefly by 
Calendario, the Michael Angelo of the middle ages — equally 
eminent as a sculptor and architect, whose foundations of the 
Ducal Palace, on the unstable soil of Yenice, are still a miracle 
for solidity. The Loggietta is one of the most frequently- 
mentioned works of Alessandro Yittoria ; there are eight 
beautiful Grecian statues on the clock-front ; the two colos- 
sal statues of Wlars and Neptune, on the Giant's Stairs, are 
of the latter years of Sansovino ; and the golden staircase, 
magnificently embellished by him, is ornamented with stuccoes 
by Yittoria. 

XVI. 

The by-gone glory and splendor of Yenice are conspicuous 
in every part of the Ducal Palace ; the interior walls are 
decorated with the frescoes of Titian, the paintings of Yero- 
nese, the superb works of Palladio, and the immense entabla- 
tures of Tintoretto, which recall the grand events of its his- 
tory. These beautiful works breathe a species of patriotism. 
Yenice ever stands forth in them as the emblem of might, 
grandeur, and beauty ; she is a powerful goddess, who breaks 
the chains of the bondsman, and receives the homage of subju- 
gated cities ; she is seated in Heaven amid the saints ; she is 
represented sitting between Justice and Peace ; she is en- 
circled by the Yirtues, crowned by Yictory, or appears in the 
clouds amid a throng of deities : allegory there loses its ordi- 
nary coldness, as it serves to express a feeling of patriotic 
pride. 



A BLANK QUADRANT. 34 t 



XVII. 

The Hall of Four Doors is by Palladio ; over its superb 
doors supported by elegant columns and adorned with Eastern 
marble, are four beautiful statues by Moro, Castelli, Cam- 
pagna and Yittoria. 

The Rape of Europa, a master-piece of Paul Veronese, is 
in the room called the anti-collegio : Europa is in the Yene- 
tian costume ; and but for the majesty of the god, which 
transpires even through his bull's head, one might think she 
was flying through the lagoons like another Biauca Capello. 

The Hall of the celebrated Council of Ten is now the em- 
peror's picture gallery. The ceiling painted in camdieu by 
Paulo Yeronese and other Yenetian artists, is perhaps the 
most magnificent in Italy. 



The wainscoting of the ancient Hall of the G-reat Council 
presents a portion of the collection of the Doges' portraits, 
painted by Tintoretto, Leandro Bassano, and the younger 
Palma. In the place where Marino Faliero should have been 
painted, is the famous inscription, in a frame on a black 
ground, — ^^ Hie est locus Marini Falieri, decapitati pro crimini- 
bus," — a deadly menace held out to power in its very palace. 
The rest of the sequence of the collection is in the Balloting 
Chamber. In the general decay of Yenice the Doge's au- 
thority had declined with everything else • the first magis- 
trate of the Republic was then only a mere shadow, an obe- 
dient puppet charged to appear in public and hold levees in 
pompous robes, and whose principal function was the espousing 
of the Adriatic. 

The vast paintings which cover the walls and ceiling of the 



348 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

Great Council Chamber, independently of their beauty, have 
also an historical interest, as a great number represent the 
religious, military, and political events, when they had the 
most influence on the destinies of European nations. The im- 
mense painting of the Glory of Paradise, a work of Tinto- 
retto's old age, so greatly admired and extolled by the Car- 
racci, fills the end of this hall. 

The Balloting Chamber contains the Universal Judgment, 
one of the master-pieces of the younger Palma ; and as you 
pass beyond this under the Gallery in which you must observe 
a fine dead Christ, by Giovanni Bellini, you are led out into tlie 
court of the Cistern by the steps of the Giant's Stairs. 



XIX, 

The Hall of the Great Council has received St, Mark's Li- 
brary : these books are, I believe, the most magnificently 
lodged in the world ; but all the grandeur and beauty of the 
paintings which surround them, and the antique statues placed 
in the middle of their apartment, throw them in the shade, 
and they iiave only the appearance of accessories. Petrarch 
really laid its first foundations, as he expresses himself, in a 
letter respecting the donation of manuscripts that he sent to 
Venice, in acknowledgment for the hospitality he had found 
there dui'iug the plague. 

XX, 

** Although inserted in some erudite collections, the letter 
in which Bessarion announces to the Doge and the Senate tlie 
present of his manuscripts to St. Mark's, may not be devoid of 



eessarion's gift. 349 



interest here ; it portrays at once the illustrious man and the 
epoch of the reyival, when books, on appearing, were hailed 
with such a lively enthusiasm ; it also contains a very line 
panegyric of the Yenetian government, without the concetti of 
Petrarch's letter, written on a like occasion, in which he said 
that, if Venice were environed with waves salsis, it was de- 
fended by counsels salsioribus. 

" ' To the most illustrious and invincible prmce Cristoforo 
Mauro, doge of Venice, and the most august senate, Bes- 
sarion, cardinal and patriarch of Constantinople, sends 
greeting : 

" * From my earliest youth I have applied all my attention, 
efforts, and zeal, to the collecting of books on the different 
sciences. In my boyhood I transcribed many with my own 
hand, and the little money that a thrifty, frugal life afforded 
me, I devoted to the purchase of others. It seemed to me 
that there did not exist in the world an article more useful, a 
treasure more precious : books, indeed, contain and present us 
with the words of the sages, the examples of antiquity, its 
manners, laws, and religions ; they live, converse, and speak 
with us ; they give us instruction and consolation, and lay be- 
fore our eyes the remotest objects as if actually present. Such 
is their power, their dignity, their majesty, their divinity even, 
that if they did not exist we should all be ignorant barbarians ; 
there would remain no trace or memory of the past ; we should 
have no acquaintance with things human or divine, and men's 
names would be buried with their bodies in the tomb. Although 
I have ever been occupied in searching for Greek books, my 
zeal and ardor redoubled after the ruin of Greece, and the ever- 
to-be-laraented taking of Constantinople, and T devoted all ray 



350 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



powers to colleet them ; I feared, I trembled that so many ex- 
cellent works, so much of the labor and midnight toils of great 
men, so many lights of the world, might be exposed to immi- 
nent destruction To the utmost of my abilities, 

I have, in all cases, preferred merit to quantity, being satisfied 
with a single copy of each ; I have, therefore, obtained nearly 
all the books of 'the learned Greeks, especially those which 
were scarce and diflScult to find. I nevertheless regarded all 
my exertions as insufficient, unless I provided that the books 
collected with so much difficulty were so disposed of in my 
life-time, that at my death they could neither be sold nor dis- 
persed, but that they might be established in a secure and 
convenient place, for the use of learned Greeks or Latins. 
Of all the Italian towns, your illustrious city appeared to me 
most suitable for the purpose. What country could offer a 
safer asylum than yours, ruled in equity, obedient to the laws, 
and governed by integrity and wisdom ; where virtue, mode- 
ration, gravity, justice, and loyalty, have fixed their abode ; 
where power, although very great and extensive, is also equi- 
table and mild ; where liberty is exempt from crime and li- 
cense ; where sages govern, and the good command the 
wicked ; where individual interests are unanimously and unre- 
servedly sacrificed to the public welfare ; merits which give 
ground to hope (as I really do) that your state may increase 
from day to day in strength and renown ? I also felt that I 
could not choose a place more convenient or agreeable for my 
countrymen than Yenice, whither flock nearly all the nations 
of the world, and particularly the Greeks, who resort thither 
from their provinces, and land there, and for whom it is like 
another Byzantium. Could I, indeed, choose more appropriate 
objects for such a gift than those to whom T am attached by 



MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES. 351 



numerous benefits received ? What city could I prefer to tLnt 
■which I chose as my home after Greece had lost its liberty, 
and in which I have been so honorably received ? Knowing 
that I am mortal, feeling the advances of age, and afflicted 
with numerous diseases, to prevent all possibility of accident, 
I intend giving all my Greek and Latin books to the venera- 
ble library of St. Mark, of your illustrious city, 

that you, your children, and descendants may see how deeply 
I was penetrated with your virtue, wisdom, and kindness, that 
you may derive abundant and perpetual advantages from my 
books, and impart the enjoyment of them to those who delight 
in good studies. I therefore address to you the deed of gift, 
the catalogue of the books, and the bull of the sovereign pon- 
tiff, praying God to grant your republic all possible prosperity, 
and that it may be blessed with peace, tranquillity, repose, and 
perpetual concord. From the baths of Yiterbo, the last day 
of April, 1468.'" 

Bessariou was the most liberal donor at St. Mark's. The 
Museum of Antiquities annexed to the Library of St. Mark, 
possesses some precious morceaux, works of the best times 
of Greece. The little group of the Carrying off of Gany- 
mede, the eagle of which is so spirited, and the fairest, most 
lascivious, and most truthful Leda and the Swan are the most 
perfect of their kind that I have ever beheld. 

TWO PRISONS. 
XXI. 

The loss of liberty is the oldest and worst of misfortunes ; 
and the histories of prisoners are most replete with touching 
interest. The Yenetian Casanova, the prisoner of the Piombi, 



352 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

is one of the first heroes of these tales — he who refused to 
read the Consolation of Boetius during his captivity, because 
it pointed out no means of evasion. I saw the window by 
which he escaped with such adventurous boldness. The cham- 
ber was then occupied by the graceful pigeons of St. Mark, 
of which mention has been made. The Piomhi, or prisons, 
were only the upper parts of the Ducal Palace, just under 
the leads, and the prisoners passed the periods of their im- 
prisonment there without injury to their health, even after a 
detention of ten years — there being a current of air sufficient 
to counteract any excess of heat. Howard acknowledged the 
salubrity of the Venetian prisons. No prisoner there was ever 
loaded with irons. These terrihk Piombi are now delightful 
and much- sought-after apartments — (in Italy apartments in 
the upper stgries are generally preferred ;) and we wish that 
many of our readers may never be lodged worse. 

XXII. 

The Pozzi formerly consisted of several stories, two of 
which are still in existence ; and the majority of these dun- 
geons were boarded up with planks, in order to prevent hu- 
midity, and were provided with bedsteads like those of the 
Trappist, some attention having been paid to the comforts of 
the prisoners. The vulgar opinion that these cells are under 
the canal is erroneous ; nor have boats ever passed over the 
heads of the guilty parties who were confined in them. It is 
very probable that the Pozzi of Yenice were not more horrible 
than the other dungeons of that period. Every age and regime 
have their peculiar prisons, in accordance witli the various 
degrees of civilization ; but the impenetrable prisons of des- 
potism are always cruel. The forts of the Empire were not 



ON THE RIALTO. 353 



inferior to the ancient donjons. At an era of reason, liberty 
and industry, prisons are changed into a sort of workshops ; 
subject to continual inspection and superintendence, they are 
merely the instruments of the impassive magistrate who en- 
forces the law. 

THE GRAND CANAL. 
XXIII. 

Not far from where barge and boat, and Levantine vessels 
of light tonnage, were lying moored, within sight of the 
Bridge of Sighs, we stepped from the quay into our gondola, 
to while away the hours of morning between the Ducal Palace 
and the Rialto. The Grand Canal, bordered by magnificent 
marble palaces, erected in the course of ten centuries by 
the best architects, would be, if paved, the finest street in the 
world. These palaces of different ages exemplify the pro- 
gress of Italian art, and form a vast, majestic and instructive 
gallery of architecture. By a whimsical refinement of luxury 
aud grandeur, the mud-buried pile-work of some is composed 
of the precious wood of Fernambuca ; so that the founda- 
tions were neither less splendid nor less costly than the 
marbles and columns of the sumptuous superstructure. 

On festival days, when barks freighted with flowers and 
gay occupants, full of musicians, pass along the canal, they 
produce a truly enchanting effect, and remind you of the lost, 
past pleasures of this fallen city, as you move along under the 
skillful paddle of the gondolier. 

XXIV. 

There is a soft and melancholy pleasure in gliding along the 
grand canal, in wandering amid those superb palaces, those 



354 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 



ancient aristocratic dwellings which bear such fine names, and 
are the memorials of so much power and glory, but are now 
desolate, shattered, or in ruins. These Moorish windows, 
these balconies, whence the fair Venetian, shut up hke the 
Eastern dame, but volatile as the European, appeared to her 
lover, as he reluctantly retreated to his gondola, are now 
dilapidated, without glass, or rudely boarded. Some few of 
them, in good condition, only bear the inscription of some of 
the authorities of Austria, or the national arms of some indo- 
lent consul. In the midst of this distraction the gardens sup- 
ply the place of the buildings, at Yenice. 

XXV. 

The desertion of the Yenetian palaces began in the last 
century with the fall of the Republic, when the degenerate 
patricians preferred lodging in a casino, near the Piazza of St. 
Mark, to inhabiting the palaces of the fathers, which were 
too great for their littleness. Gambling, celibacy, and that 
species of social selfishness which they produce, had enervated 
the manners of the nobility. The Yenetian patriciate may -be 
regarded as the most ancient and the most national in Eu- 
rope, since it originated with the founders of the Republic, 
and preceded by many centuries the ancestors of the oldest 
aristocracies. 

XXVI. 

We often went to Florian's to revive those pleasing recol- 
lections of the days of her former greatness, when noble beau- 
ties walked on the grand square, and her merchant princes 
conned their schemes of wealth under the arcades. How 
many hours of idleness they passed there, either in watching 
the passing crowd or hearing the news of the day ! We 



YOUNG MOONLIGHT. 355 



could only listen to the song of a strolling beggar-girl, who 
craved our pittance of alms, and would go away, only to 
return and renew her music for another gift, under a new 
dress of counterfeited charms. Again, a family of female 
violinists would regale our ears in turn, while we waited for 
the lighting of the gas upon St. Mark's, that we might watch 
the magical effects of the illumination, as a thousand lamps 
threw their bright flashes of light over the marbles of its 
pavement, and struggled into faintness to intone into concert 
the chiaro-oscuro of a young moonlight, which was penciling, 
with softer touches, the more indistinct forms of the distant 
buildings, that fronted on the margin of the grand canal. 
How wondrous is the moonlight at Yenice I 

PALACES. 
XXVII. 

Among the palaces which are along the Grand Canal, the 

Giustiniani, situated not far from the Academy of Fine Arts, 
will merit attention, from some of its fine paintings. The 
ancient Foscari Palace is in ruins, but its majestic and 
melancholy aspect is in unison with the reflections it suggests. 
The observer feels that it must have been the residence of 
that unhappy family — fallen from power, punished by im- 
prisonment, exile, and death — the Stuarts, of aristocratic 
famihes. 

XXVIII. 

The Mocenigo Palace on the Grand Canal, was occupied 
by Lord Byron. We have heard much of his several years^ 
residence at Venice, and of the scenes which took place at 



356 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

this palace, which cause one to regret that esteem is not 
always the inseparable companion of glory. Byron may, how- 
ever, deserve some indulgence, on account of his abundant 
charities, which were quite equal to his dissipation and shame- 
ful licentiousness. The life of Yenice — that life of quietude, 
pleasui-es, night-studies, and reading — must, however, suit the 
taste of a poet. Few cities have been sung more frequently 
or better than Yenice. Petrarch called it la Citta d/oru. 
The classic verses of Sannazzaro, in which he sets forth its 
superiority over Rome, are well known : — 

" niam homines dices, hanc posuisse Deos." 

The fine sonnet of Alfieri : — 

" Ecco, sorger dall' acque io veggo altera 
La canuta del mar saggia reina," 



And the romantic strophes of Childe Harold : — 

" She looks a sea Cybele, fresh from ocean, 
Kising with her tiara of proud towers 
At airy distance, with majestic motion, 
A ruler of the waters and their powers : 
And such she was ; — her daughters had their dowers 
From spoils of nations, and the exhaustless East 
Pour'd in her lap all gems in sparkling showers. 
In purple was she robed, and of her feast 
Monarchs partook, and deem'd their dignity increased." 

Among the fine paintings of the Mocenigo Palace, is the 
sketch of the celebrated Glory of Paradise, painted by Tinto- 
retto, now preferable even to the picture, which is to be seen 
in the ancient Hall of the Great Council, since it has not had 
the misfortune to be retouched. 



PRIESTLY ROBBER. 35 1 



XXIX. 

The Barbarigo Palace bears imprinted on it, the traces of 
Titian, who lived in this family, preferring a residence in his 
dear Yenice, to the proposals made to him by the popes Leo 
X. and Paul III., and to the honors pressingly offered to him 
by Philip II., a strange suitor, rejected by the painter. At 
this palace is to be seen his celebrated Magdalen, less ideal 
than true, found at his house at the moment of his death, and 
which may be regarded as the original of his several Magda- 
lens, and a St. Sebastian, his last work, on which he was 
employed, when the horrible plague of 15 1 6 carried him off, 
full of health, at the age of ninety-nine. 

The last moments of Titian were frightful. He expired on 
the same couch as his cherished son and pupil, Horace, who 
could not close his eyes. A band of robbers pillaged his 
house, and carried off, before his eyes, even his most treasured 
works, which he would not sell at any price. Shortly after 
his demise, his second son, Pomponio, a priest of most dis- 
reputable character, came post from Milan, sacrificed what- 
ever property and valuables remained after the robbery, and 
after having dissipated his inheritance in a few months, did 
not blush to dispose of the small patrimonial house of Cadore, 
leaving the last resting-place of his glorious father tombless 
and unknown. 

One of the most magnificent and elegant of Venice, remark- 
able for the pure and noble taste of its front, vestibule, and 
lower story, is the Grimani Palace, which is now occupied as 
the Austrian post-ofBce. 

XXX. 

The celebrated Mercantile Bridge of the Rialto, by the Ve- 
netian architect of the sixteenth century, da Ponte, is showy 



358 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

and substantial, and carries the mind back to the origin of 
Venice, its festivals, and prosperity. The wanderers, who 
were the first inhabitants of the kind of islet with which it 
communicates, and the name of which it bears — those men 
compared by Cassiodorus to birds that build their nests on 
the waters — doubtless had no idea that they were founding a 
powerful Republic, which was one day to have dominion over 
Italy, to take Constantinople, to resist the league of kings 
and emperors, to monopolize the commerce of the world, and 
to last fourteen centuries. 

XXXI. 

Some few curiosities, and a rich gallery of the different 
schools of painting, are the most notable objects of the Man- 
frini Palace, where you may observe the Three Portraits, by 
Giorgione, who seems triumphant there. This last master- 
piece drew from Byron several stanzas of admiration, in his 
Yenetian tale of Bepjpo, two verses of which are not, however, 
very accurate, as Giorgione was never married, viz. : — 

" 'T is but a portrait of his son, and wife, 
And self, but such a woman love in life," — St. xii. 

The works of the old painters — Cimabue, Giotto, and Mon- 
tegna— are very judiciously placed together in one room. 



FAMOUS HOUSES. 
XXXII. 

The houses of Teotochi-Albrizzi and Cicognara, but a short 
distance from each other, equal palaces by their inhabitants. 
Like Aspasia, Signora Albrizzi was a Greek, and like her, 



CELEBRATED HOUSES. 359 



too, the friend of illustrious men differing in genius and talent, 
whom she had succeeded in portraying with faithfulness and 
ingenuity, in a style impregnated with all the grace of her sex. 
In the centre of her drawing-room is a bust of her compatriot, 
Helen, a figure full of charms and voluptuousness, presented 
to her by Canova, as an acknowledgment of his gratitude for 
the description of his sculptures, given by Signora Albrizzi j 
this bust has been sung by Byron : — 

" In this beloved marble view, 

Above the works and thoughts of man. 
What nature could, but would not, do, 

And beauty and Canova can ! 
Beyond imagination's power, 

Beyond the bard's defeated art, 
With immortality her dower, 

Behold the Helen of the heart /" 

The head-dress has the form of a truncated ^^^, a felicitous 
allusion to the birth of Leda's daughter. Signora Albrizzi 
died in the year 1836, aged sixty-six, after a long illness, 
which had neither impaired her lively imagination nor the at- 
tractions of her mind. During this illness the Memoirs of 
Madame Lebrun, her contemporary and friend, were read to 
her, and they brought to recollection her Yenice of forty 
years past, with its joyous pleasures, its beautiful religious 
music, and its good society of French emigrants ! In this 
manner did the authoress of the Ritratti find her pains allevi- 
ated by the narrative of our great portrait-painter. 

XXXIII, 

Cicognara possessed Dante's Beatrix, another of Canova's 
chefs-d^-auvre, given by him to this amiable, learned, and ex- 



860 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

cellent man, his worthy and partial friend, as a friend ought 
always to be, whatever Plato's proverb may say to the con- 
trary. A writer, who unites elevated thought with delicacy 
of feeling, thus relates, in an important work, the origin of 
this figure : — " An artist of pre-eminent renown, a statuary 
who, not long since, shed so great a lustre on the glorious 
country of Dante, and whose graceful fancy had been so often 
exalted by the master-pieces of antiquity, one day saw, for the 
first time, a woman, who seemed to him a living apparition of 
Beatrix. Full of that religious feeling that genius ever im- 
parts, he immediately required the marble, ever obedient to 
his chisel, to express the sudden inspiration of that moment, 
and tlie Beatrix of Dante passed from the vague domains of 
poetry into the reality of art. The feeling which resides in 
this harmonious countenance has now become the new type 
of pure and virginal beauty, which, in its turn, gives inspira- 
tion to artists and poets." This woman is a celebrated French 
lady, celebrated for the charms of her person and her noble 
character. It is some honor for France to have revealed to 
tlie first statuary of Italy the conception of that mysterious 
ideal beauty sung by her greatest poet. 

ALDUS. 

xxxiv. 

I deeply regretted not being able to find any certain traces 
of the dwelling of Aldus Manutius, where he assembled that 
venerable typographic academy, composed of the most learned 
characters, who spoke nothing but Greek when engaged in the 
examination and discussion of the classics. The press of 
Aldus Manutius and his son would now be a real monument ; 



FLOATING DREAMS. 361 



it was the only treasure that the former of these great men 
left to the second, after devoting his fortune and his profits, 
and discovery and purchase of old manuscripts in Greek and 
Latin, and occupying his whole life in deciphering, complet- 
ing, correcting, and publishing them. It is easy to conceive 
with what almost poetical enthusiasm the discovery of this 
all-powerful art m«st inspire a man so learned as the elder 
Aldus, and so passionately attached to that reviving antiquity 
which he thus saw rendered indestructible and universal. The 
rather strange inscription over the door of his chamber shows 
the extraordinary ardor of his application : — 

" Quisquis es, rogat te etiam atque etiam ; ut, si quis est quod 
a se velis, 'per.paucis agas, deinde aduium abeas, nisi tanquam. 
Hercules, defesso Atlante, veneris suppositurus humeros. Semper 
erit quod et tu agas, et quotquot hue attulerint pedes." 

" Whosoever thou art, Aldus entreats thee again and again, 
if thou hast business with him, to conclude it briefly, and 
hasten thy departure ; unless, like Hercules to the weary 
Atlas, thou come to put thy shoulder to the work. Then 
there will ever be sufficient occupation for thee, and all others 
who may come." 

IHE ISLE OF ST. LAZARO. 
XXXV. 

On the tenth of June, either from inadvertency on my part, 
(for one lives almost in a perpetual waking dream-life at 
Venice, ) or from my boatman not having rightly interpreted 
my instruction as to the visits of this day, I awoke from my 
reverie only to discover that my gondala had been floated 



^ 



^ 



362 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

nearly down to the little island of St. Lazaro ; the most 
graceful of those that arise out of the bosom of the Lagoon. 
This little accident only led me to enjoy the spot inhabited by 
the Armenian monks, an affable and industrious sect who 
publish in their tongue good editions of the most useful and 
esteemed books, and I did not regret so pleasing an incident 
which had led me to those shores which had been visited 
daily, for several hours, by Lord Byron, who went there in 
winter in order to take Armenian lessons from the librarian, 
Don Pasquale. Byron, dissatisfied, tired of the world, and 
satiated with most things of this life, sought to penetrate the 
difficulties of an Eastern idiom ; he found no interest but in 
difficulties ; and this impetuous poet studied a grave, cold, and 
historical literature of translations and polemics. 

The Armenian monks have always been good Catholics, 
and have only differed from the Roman Church in a small 
number of rights. Despite its religious liberties and com- 
mercial spirit, Venice never admitted toleration, and Comines 
had already remarked and praised the reverence which the Vene- 
tians lore to the service of the Church. 

By a singular opportunity, while I was hospitably enter- 
tained by the amiable librarian of the Monks, for whose kind- 
ness I suppose I was somewhat indebted to their recollections 
of Lord Byron, of whom they spoke with feelings of pride, 
I was enabled to see here, some crocodiles' eggs and an Ihis, 
both of which I had failed to discover when engaged in my 
travels up the Nile. 

sxxvi. 

The return to Venice at night, by moonlight, is one of the 
finest scenes of Italy. The silence of the City, and the Ori- 



THE PRINCESS C. 363 



ental aspect of St. Marks and the Ducal Palace have at this 
hour something enchanting and mysterious, and the pale 
splendor reflected on the sea, and the marble palaces contrast 
with the black gondola gliding solitarily over the waters. 
These palaces are no longer illuminated, as heretofore, in the 
days of pleasure, sports, and dissipations of this brilliant city, 
and the moon, called by artists, the Sun of Ruins, is particu- 
larly suited to the grand ruin of Yenice. 

THE CHURCHES. 
XXXVII. 

The number of churches was considerable at Yenice ; and 
the ecclesiastical population was in greater proportion there 
than in the first Catholic States, and gave one person of the 
clergy to every fifty-four inhabitants. 

The liberties of the Yenetian Church approach much nearer 
to the Greek schism, which is ever submissive to authority, 
than to the seditious spirit of reform. It is very singular 
that divorce was one of these privileges. It was equally per- 
mitted in Poland, by means of preconcerted pretexts of nullity, 
I have been told that the Princess C***, now retired into a 
convent at Rome, at her daughter's marriage, went up to the 
altar, before the ceremony, and in the presence of the whole 
congregation, gave her daughter two slaps, which she received 
with the utmost indifference. Some persons but little ac- 
quainted with these customs ran up to the princess, greatly 
excited, when she gave this simple explanation : — " Those 
slaps are proofs which may aid in procuring my daughter's 
divorce, in case she be unhappy with her husband ; she will 
be able to say that I forced her." It is not easy to figure the 



364 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

countenance of the bridegroom, during this strange scene of 
maternal tenderness and foresight. 

A two-fold interest, of glorious reminiscences of distant 
periods and wonders of art, due to the great Venetian artists, 
is possessed by the churches of Yenice. 

XXXVIII. 

The old Church and Monastery of St. Zacharias dates from 
the beginning of the ninth century. Until the latter days of 
the Republic, it was the spot of one of the oldest and most 
pompous Venetian fetes ; and every year, at Easter, the 
Doge attended the services and the procession. 

The Abbess Morosini and the nuns of that rich monastery, 
flattered at receiving the Chief of the State, made him a 
present of a kind of republican diadem, called coroio ducale, 
of inestimable value. It was of gold, surrounded with twenty- 
four large pearls. On the top glittered a superb eight-faced 
diamond ; a brilliant ruby of enormous size was in front ; 
the cross, composed of precious stones and twenty-four eme- 
ralds, surpassed all the rest. It was decreed that this costly 
present should be used at the coronation of the Doges ; and 
every year, in the procession, it was carried on a salver, and 
shown to all the sisters of the convent by the Doge himself. 

St. Zachary has four fine paintings, by Palma, at the high 
altar, and a bust of John Baptist, by Yittoria, whose tomb is 
marked by a slab on the marble pavement. 

The choir is rich and magnificent, being composed of Go- 
thic frame-work videttes, which are carried over the arches 
of the pillars. There is a good Virgin and Saints, by Bel- 
lini, the founder of the Venetian school, which was very much 
soiled by its removal to Paris. 



PARDONABLE VISITS. 365 



XXXIX. 

St. George Major is one of Palladio's miracles, a noble 
church which would have been faultless had he lived to com- 
plete it. One appreciates the high order of its excellent style 
of architecture, by a certain sense of fitness and elevation 
which attract the eye upon entering this and every perfect 
type of constructive form. A sensation of completion seems 
to indicate and even graduate the scale of those proportions 
which should claim our admiration or dislike. The chief 
paintings, are, the Nativity, and Martyrdom of St. Lucy, by 
Bassano ; and the Virgin Crotoned, a Last Supper, the 
Manna in the Desert, and the Resurrection, by Tintoretto. 

At the high altar, four bronze statues of the Evangelists, 
by Campagna, support an enormous globe on which the Re- 
deemer stands, a beautifully harmonious composition, which 
nobly expresses the triumph of the Gospel — a master-piece of 
art, compared to the Jupiter Olympus of Phidias, and rightly 
placed over the pulpit of St. Peter, by Bernini. 

On one of the pilasters is an inscription which seems to 
carry the doctrine of indulgences to an indefinite extent, as it 
says, that " the absolute pardon of all his crimes is accorded to 
every person loho shall visit this church.'^ This eloquent inscrip- 
tion is of the period of the St. Bartholomew massacre, and 
breathes but too strongly of the pontifical spirit of that day. 
Beside the church, in a small corridor but little worthy of 
such a monument, is the tomb of Doge Domenico Micheli, 
both the Saint Bernard and Godfrey of the Yenetian cru- 
sades. The victor of Jaffa, the conqueror of Jerusalem, Tyre, 
and Ascalon — who compelled the emperors of the East to re- 
spect the flag of his country — transported from the Archi- 



366 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

pelago the two columns of the Piazzetta, ravaged the coast 
of Dalmatia, and had these words for his epitaph — 
*' Terror GrcBcorumjacet hie." 

XL. 

Those acts of gratitude, which, in the Middle Ages, were 
conceived to be due after the happening of any public cala- 
mity, often found expression in the erection of some noble 
edifice, or the presentation or deposition of some costly gift 
at the altar of a church. With this end, as a proper offering 
of their gratefulness after their delivery from the pestilence, 
the " Salute" was erected by the Yenetians after the great 
plague of 15 1 6. 

The sumptuousness of the Salute, which is destitute of 
neither majesty nor grandeur, and the multitude of ornaments 
with which this temple is overloaded, announce the decline of 
Yenetian architecture. The revolutions of taste are appa- 
rently the same in all the arts. San Micheli precedes Pal- 
ladio, as Lucretius precedes Yirgil ; Corneille, Racine ; Bour- 
daloue, Massillon ; energy comes before purity ; bad taste, 
which deems itself good, succeeds, and produces Seneca, Clau- 
dian, Marini, and Longhena, the architect of the Salute. 

XLI. 

This church, notwithstanding its richness, is especially inte- 
resting for the paintings by Titian, at various periods of his 
life, an artist who is always productive, always new. Tfatese 
are — the eight small ovals of the choir, where are represented 
the Evangelists and the Doctors, one of whom is a portrait of 
Titian ; the Descent of the Holy Ghost, painted in his sixty- 
fourth year ; in the sacristy, the little St. Mark in the midst 



TRULY PRODIGIOUS. 36*1 



of Four Saints, one of the scarce works of his youth, remark- 
able for the softness of the light and the delicacy of the flesh 
of the St. Sebastian ; and the Death of Abel, the Sacrifice of 
Abraham, and David Killing Goliah, and the finest works in 
the Salute, w^hich are admirable for the execution of the naked 
parts, and truly prodigious, when we recollect that the study 
of anatomy was not tolerated in Italy at that epoch. 

The bronze chandelier of the high altar, more than six feet 
in height, after that of Padua, the finest in the Venetian 
state, and of infinite grace in its many parts, completes the 
celebrated ornaments of this church. 

The Mausoleum of Sansovino, w^hich is now at " Salute," re- 
minds you of the unsettled history and many unhappy changes 
of his life. The ashes of this great artist, a wanderer while 
living, and a fugitive from the sack of Rome, who had no 
settled restiug-place for more than tw^enty years, and the 
builder of so many churches, tombs, and monuments, and the 
founder of a celebrated school, aw^aits their last asylum. 
" Sic transit ffloria mundi." 



It would be difficult to express the deep sensation produced 
by the sight of the Church of tlie Redentore, the chef-d'-ceuvre 
of that immortal artist, Palladio — the Virgil, Racine, Fenelon, 
and Raphael of architecture. This brilliant specimen of his 
genius fills the eye with beauty on your approach, and is 
no less attractive and striking in its interior. The elegance, 
lightness, and purity of the edifice are combined with solidity ; 
and, after more than two centuries, it stands immovable and 
still young amid the waves. The light of the Redentore, due 
to its beautiful architecture, has a wonderful effect, especially 



368 THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

in the evening ; and the prayer of the Capuchins, to whom 
this magnificent temple has been restored, is, at that hour, 
one of the most religious church-scenes, as well as the most 
poetic and picturesque that can be imagined. 

Some fine paintings adorn the interior, among which the 
Flagellation and Ascension, by Tintoretto, will claim your ad- 
miration, as well as that sweet little painting, in the closet of 
the sacristy, by Giovanni Bellini, the Virgin, with the Infant 
Jesws sleeping on her knees, between two angels, playing on the 
mandoline, a painting of astonishing grace and expression. 
Bellini, Titian's master, explains his pupil, as the paintings of 
Perugino in the Cambio of Peruggia, explain Raphael. 

XLUI. 

The Redentore, as well as the Salute, is a monument erected 
after the cessation of a plague. It is difficult to account for 
so much splendor after such ravages — that 7?ial qui repand 
la terrewr seems at Yenice and Florence to produce the most 
brilliant wonders of art. 

The plagues of Venice were caused by its extensive deal- 
ings with the East, in the then flourishing state of its com- 
merce ; those were the days of its glory ! The other towns 
of Italy also celebrated the termination of a plague, by the 
erection of temples and chapels ; and while our dreadful 
cholera obscurely died away in the mendacious bulletins of 
the police, the men of those times of faith loved to show the 
evidences of their gratitude towards the Divinity by superb 
public monuments. It ought also to be remarked, to the 
honor of Italian and Christian civilization, in the fifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries, although the princes were so vicious 
and criminal, that none of the terrible plagues which then 



SINGULAR FUNEREAL HONOR. 369 

desolated Italy, excited among the people those outrages and 
murders, arising from fear or stupid credulity, of which our 
great cities in the nineteenth century, with all their im- 
provements and progress, were the theatre, when the same 
cholera afflicted them. 

XLIV. 

One of the best-executed basso-relievos in Venice, is over 
one of the small doors of the Frari ; it represents the Virgin, 
the Infant Jesus, and two little angels. The author of this 
master-piece of taste, nature, and harmony, is unknown ; per- 
haps it is by Nicholas of Pisa, or some of his pupils. Amid 
the multitude of elegant and magnificent tombs which adorn 
the superb Temple of the Frari, an inscription of two lines, ou 
the pavement, point out the spot where Titian reposes ; but 
the fact is somewhat uncertain ; for, if Titian, though a 
victim of the plague, was buried at the Frari, the Senate 
having excepted his body from being destroyed with the other 
infected dead, (a singular funereal honor done to the remains 
of this great painter,) the place where he was buried is not 
positively known, and the inscription is long posterior to his 
death. For more than thirty years past, continued proposals 
have been made, and much anxiety shown, for the erection of 
a monument to Titian, but hitherto without ejffect. The 
present would be a very seasonable opportunity to realize this 
desirable object, since the discovery and resurrection of his 
master-piece, the Assumption. 

The majestic Choir of the Frari has some beautiful stalls in 
wood, of the year 1468, which are a perfect specimen of 
wainscoting and carving. A fine painting of some of the 
Pesaro Family, a fine work bv Titian, in which slight nesili- 



310 THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AND THE DOGE. 

gences of the drapery are cleverly managed to give effect 
to the figure, is among the numerous remarkable Dictures that 
adorn the walls of this church. 

XLV. 

Canova's monument, a huge pyramid of Carrara marble, 
containing his heart, is now completed. Never did talent re- 
ceive such exceeding homage, as in the amounts contributed 
by various nations, in erecting this tribute to his memory, 
which resembles that of Maria Christina, at Yienna, and that 
to Paul lY., at St. Peter's. England supplied a fourth part 
of the expense ; France and Germany contributed another 
quarter ; North America subscribed forty sequins, and Italy 
and principally the Yenetian towns, made up the rest. 

Notwithstanding the hyperbole common to monumental in- 
scriptions — ^^Ex consolatione Eurojpa universoz^^ — falls short of 
the truth ; it was really erected at the expense of the whole 
world. 

As we passed away from the Prari, a loaded gondola, 
freighted with gay people and various wares, glided past the 
quay. This boat, with her little receptacle full of fresh 
flowers at her prow, kindly revived in our memories fond 
images of the past glories of the Republic and of the Floral 
Festivals of the more poetic age of Yenice. That little 
tripod of fair flowers adorning her bows, hung like a propitia- 
tory offering to appease the waves, as if it were '* a savor of 
sweet incense" to the attendant nymphs of the Goddess of the 
Love and Beauty, who, having fled, with the splendor of her 
classic age, could have left nothing of her presence on earth 
but the sweet imagery which still lingers in the similitude of 
her name-sake, Yenice. 



ST. roch's confraternity. 311 



XLVI. 

We are informed by an inscription placed over the rich and 
elegant high-altar of St. Roch, that this church and confra- 
ternity were, among the other wonders of art, due to the 
plagues of Venice. It seems that, unlike most other people, 
the Yenetians v/ere not prostrated by calamities. The estab- 
lishment of the Yenetian confraternities, and the splendor of 
their palaces, especially of that of St. Roch, one of the richest 
buildings of modern architecture, give a favorable idea of the 
old government ; as there can be no doubt of the easy circum- 
stances and happiness of a people who spontaneously erects 
such monuments at its own cost. The staircase of these mer- 
chants of Yenice, these Antonios, a magnificent work, com- 
pleted by Scarpagnmo, is superior to that of Yersailles ; and 
by a singular refinement, a strange excess of sumptuousness 
and profusion, the steps are sculptured on the under surface as 
well as the upper. On the landing, half-way up the stairs, are 
two paintings — the first, Titian's Annunciation, in which the 
flight of the angel is so light and rapid, and the wings, dra- 
pery, and hair, extremely fine ; the second, Tintoretto's Visi- 
tation. One of the chefs-d'-a.uvre of the latter — the immense, 
original, and sublime Crucifixion — is in the room called the 
Albergo, in which also is his portrait by himself, and the com- 
partments of the ceiling, representing the six great companies 
of Yenice. The upper room is entirely by him, and the worth 
of this great painter cannot be appreciated elsewhere than at 
Yenice. 

Among the carvings in wood — an art now lost — which 
decorate this same room, are some by Michael Angelo, who 
seems to have sculptured all nature — wood, stone, marble, 



372 THE LAND OF THE CESAR AND THE DOGE. 

brass, and even snow — as it proved by the ephemeral statues 
that he executed at the command of Pietro Medici, the un- 
worthy successor of Lorenzo. 

XLVTI. 

There was an exposition of the Holy Communion at St. 
Salvatore, ou the day that we visited this church, and the altar 
was brilliantly lighted at mid-day, giving a curious effect to 
its interior. Besides the many noble monuments which this 
church incloses, there are two statues of A^ittoria — his St. 
Rock and St. Sebastian ; the last very natural and graceful. 
By-the-by, we had often been singularly struck on calling to 
mind the number of St. Sebastians that we had seen in Italy, 
and with the merit and beauty of the greater number. It is 
probable that the contrast of the immobility and suffering of 
the body, with the ardor and sublime enthusiasm of the soul 
and its heavenly hope, is one of the most touching and poetical 
subjects that art can offer to the eye. Despite its fatal re- 
touching, the Annunciation shows the variety of Titian's talent, 
and the modest beauty of the stooping, announcing angel, with 
his arms crossed on his heart, differs totally from the aerial 
and haughty angel of St. Roch. This work of the artist's old 
age, being regarded by his enemies as beneath him, and attri- 
buted to another, in his indignation he has written the word 
fecit twice over after his name. The Transfiguration, energetic 
and full of imagmation, was also of Titian's old age, and was 
evidently painted rapidly when his sight was weakened. He 
executed the famous Last Supper of the Escurial, between the 
age of eighty and eighty-seven ; one would say, from all these 
paintings, that his talent had neither slackness nor decrepitude. 
The great artists of Venice, like her first captains — Daudolo, 



CELEBRATF.D ORG AX. 373 



who took Constantinople, and Carlo Zeno, who delivered Cy- 
prus, both at eighty years of age — seem to have vanquished 
time ; and St. Saviour is, as it were, the theatre of this pro- 
digious triumph. The celebrated organ of this church is the 
first to which a chromatic finger-board was adapted — an im- 
portant progress of modern music, due to Italy. 

ST. JOHN AND PAUL. 
XLVIII. 

This church, which is one of the vast basilics of the Middle 
Ages, with windows at once brilliant and sombre, and a na- 
tional monument full of magnificent mausoleums of the doges, 
generals, and great men of Yenice, seems to be the Westmin- 
ster Abbey, or rather, if you choose, the St. Denis of a re- 
publican aristocracy. The immense size of these tombs 
almost startles one ; they seem to intrude upon the proper 
usages of the sanctuary, as if to show in their pretentious 
proportions that the rivalry of these haughty doges extended 
even to their sepulchres. It seems almost presumption for 
the tomb of man to occupy so much space in the house of the 
Lord ! The rival vanities of the patrician families explain 
the extravagance of such sepulchres, which is not, however, 
the useless profusion of the world of fashion, but has power- 
fully promoted the development and splendor of art. 

Several excellent paintings of the most eminent artists 
adorn the interior of this church. The great Crucifixion, by 
Tintoretto, is superb ; and his Virgin receiving the homage of 
Venetian Senators is nobly expressive. But the master-piece 
surpassing all, is Titian's Martyrdom of St. Peter, the Domini- 
can, a composition full of poetry, expression, and pathos ; a 



3H THE LAND OF THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE, 

scene of murder by a robber in a lonely wood, but neither 
gliastly nor bloody ; the trees have even a touch of ideal 
beauty. The contrast between the terror of St. Peter's com- 
panion and the heavenly hope which illumines the counte- 
nance of the latter, is admirable. In such a work there is a 
kind of intrinsic power which obtains the object of the art 
without an effort. This is not the kind of painting that may 
be learned, rather correct and regular than vigorous and 
grand. Titian seems to create paintings, while others make 
them. A decree of the senate forbade the Dominicans of 
St. John and Paul, under pain of death, to sell this marvel- 
lous painting ; its surpassing excellence justifies and explains 
such an attack on the rights of property. 

XLIX. 

The Colleoni Monument, on one side of St. John and Paul, 
was erected with the money bequeathed for that purpose by 
that general. The inscription simply states that the statue 
was erected — " ob militare imperium optime gestuinJ^ The Co- 
rinthian pedestal of this monument, the work of Leopardo, is 
the first in existence for the elegance and good taste of the 
ornaments ; the statues of princes are inferior in this point to 
that of the condotiieri. It is the work of Andrea da Yerroc- 
chio, a Florentine, one of the first artists of his time, a painter, 
sculptor and architect, the master of Perugino and Leonardo 
Yinci. The history of this statue, related by Yasari, por- 
trays the passion, jealousy, and self-love, as well as the 
independence and activity of the artists of that epoch. When 
Yerrocchio had finished the horse, he learned that the execu- 
tion of the figure was about to be conceded through favor to 
Yellano of Padna, who was patronized by certain patricians. 



BORROWED SPLENDOR. 375 



In his indignation, he broke the head and legs of the horse, 
and privately fled to Florence. The Venetian Senate imme- 
diately let him know, that if he ever dared to show himself 
there again, it would be at the peril of his head ; he re- 
plied, that he w^ould take good care of that, since the sig- 
noria could not replace his head if once cut off, so easily as 
he could repair the head of the horse he had broken. 
This answer was favorably received, and Yerrocchio obtained 
permission to return. He recommenced his w^ork with such 
ardor, that he was seized with an inflammation of the lungs, 
of which he died, and Leopardo was charged with the clearing 
and casting of the statue. 

L. 

The first Yenetians, like the Romans, attached great po- 
litical importance to the married state. Every year on the 
Feast 'of the Purification nearly all the marriages of the city 
were celebrated together in the same church, that on the 
small island of Olivolo, now Santa Maria Formosa. It was 
once decreed that twelve young maidens, selected from the 
most virtuous and beautiful, should be portioned at the public 
expense, and conducted to the altar by the doge in his state- 
robes, followed by his retinue. The government carried their 
delicate attentions so far as to adorn them with gold, pearls, 
and diamonds, that the self-love of these rosieres might not be 
wounded by the rich attire of the brides ; but after the cere- 
mony they laid aside tkis borrowed splendor and retained only 
their portion. 

LI. 

A catastrophe that happened in 944 gave still greater so- 
lemnity to this fete in after years. During the previous night 



3*76 THE LAXD OF THE CyESAR AND THE DOGE. 

certain pirates of Trieste succeeded in placing an ambuscade 
unperceived behind the island of Olivolo, and in the morning, 
hastily crossing the canal, they leaped ashore, sword in hand, 
rushed into the church at the time of the nuptial benediction, 
seized the intended brides in their brilliant dresses and carry- 
ing their arcdlas, dragged them to the boats, leaped on board 
with them, and fled with all speed. This rape, however, did 
not turn out like that of the Sabines, and the piratical Romu- 
lus of the Adriatic had not the same success as the founder 
of the Eternal City. The ravishers, being pursued to the 
lagoons of Caorlo by the Yenetian bridegrooms with the doge 
at their head, were attacked while in the act of sharing the 
women and the booty, totally defeated, and all thrown into the 
sea. The small port on the coast of Friuli where this action 
was fought, immediately took the name of Porto delle Don- 
zelle (port of the Maidens), which it still retains. The fete 
delle Marie, to which the return of the betrothed and their 
eventful marriage gave rise, was celebrated annually at Santa 
Maria Formosa until the latter days of the Republic. 

THINGS AND THOUGHTS. 
LIT. 

It was always a source of gratification to our party that we 
were lodged in the fine old palace of the " Grazie," which 
was not far from the Old Foscari, and directly opposite the 
mansion of the Infanta of Spain. Such a position was well 
calculated to revive bright images of the ancient glories and 
splendor of the city. Day-dreams upon her canals, with 
nightly visions of Aladdin lustre, by her moonlights and the 
torch-flames of St. Mark's piazza, were the sum and rounding 



'tis passing strange. 3TT 



of our life at Venice. Sit with ns, on one such night, while 
we sip our coffee at Florian's and discuss the topics of the 
day, or amuse ourselves by watching the movements of the 
ever-varying, active, and gay crowds, that are displayed by a 
rich moon, over the pavements of the marble quadrangle. 
Perhaps you may fall, as we did, into conversation with an 
old familiar face, which you had seen on the night before — 
strangers to each other — still a common humanity and the 
amenities of travel render you communicative, and "a fellow- 
feeling makes you wondrous kind." Be not surprised if you 
find your Venetian friend, though perfectly polite and court- 
eous, willing to learn, but happier in his ignorance ; and do 
not let him perceive your alarm when you discover that educa- 
tion, on all general subjects, is not so universally diffused there 
as in this country. Nay, still further — be not shocked if he 
does not happen to know, whether America is governed by a 
President or a King ! All these strange ignorances may fall 
under your observation and your pity ; but restrain your won- 
der, and repress your fears, until you find, as we did, that 
even Tasso and Petrarch were not known by an Italian of, 
otherwise, good sense, whom we met, although we suggested 
that they were his most distinguished compatriots. 

LIII. 

But the moon shines gloriously on, despite of the lack of 
man's knowledge, and Venice is always 

" A thing of beauty and a joy forever;" 

and such spots of woeful darkness upon the mind are but the 
vapors of passing clouds which temporarily obscure the surface 
only to render her re-appearing light more bright. With 



3t8 THE LAND OP^ THE C^SAR AND THE DOGE. 

what a mild and holy aspect shines the moon among the rich 
masses of white clouds which relieve her light, like a silver 
globe on a robe of ermine, while the deep azure of the vault 
of heaven, like a suspended dome of Lazuli, form a sublime 
back-ground in the horizon, against which the towers and 
steeples, campaniles and temples of Yenice are thrown in bold 
relief, while their shadows fall in reflections upon the water's 
sheen. 

THE GONDOLA. 
LIV. 

How noislessly and gracefully the fairy barks glide over the 
broad Lagoon, suggesting to the mind the very poetry of mo- 
tion ! To-day our gondolier brings us to the Island of Murano, 
which still contains the manufactories of glass and crystal, for 
which Venetian industry was formerly renowned ; but,we found 
it closed against our admission. With no better success, we 
returned to the city, and souglit to enter the Arsenal, which 
was not opened on that day. Thence pa.ssing out from the 
canal, still keeping in our view the figures of the Lions of 
Athens, which guard the gates of the Arsenal, we ordered the 
gondola to be moved towards Lido. It was upon the firm 
and solitary bank of the Lido, that Lord Byron took his daily 
ride. Had he died at Venice, it was his wish to have reposed 
there, near a certain stone, the limit of some field, not far from 
the little fort, so as to escape, by a wild caprice, his native 
land, too heavy for his bones and the abhorred funeral obse- 
quies of his relatives. 

The shore is prettily shaded by trees, and extends its length 
for some distance along the Lagoon. The view of Venice 



A '*■ beggar" afloat. 379 

which is thence presented, embraces its finest front with all 
their campaniles and steeples, as they tower over her palaces 
and gardens. 

LV. 

The public gardens are prettily laid out at the extremity of 
the city, so as to command a fine prospect of the port and all 
the distant islands of the Lagoon. They seemed, however, to 
be but little resorted to, so superior are the attractions of the 
place of St. Mark which draws thither the fashion of the city, 
and offer to all classes of her citizens many more agreeable 
sights and livelier scenes. 

As we passed on through the quarter of St. Lorenzo, I was 
struck with a number of pretty faces among the women, which 
I observed with more than usual curiosity, for, until that 
moment, I had been at a loss to discover in Venice, from 
what section the old painters had derived the models for 
their most beautiful subjects. Proceeding on, I was joined 
by some American friends who forsook their boat to enter 
into my own ; and soon after their arrival, we were some- 
what amused to see a novelty in Yenice, even a gondoliering 
beggar, or a cripple afloat, who having no legs, had been 
forced to take to a travelling mendicity for a support. His 
boat having drifted across our bows, we were soon persuaded 
into yielding our alms. In fact, it was so great a curi- 
osity for us to have met a beggar in a gondola, that we 
were loathe to deprive ourselves of the pleasure of giving, 
in order that we might see a pauper, whose occupation would 
have been gone on dry land, but who in Yenice, alone, thus 
lashed to the bottom of his boat, could float his vessel with 
one hand, while he reached out the other, to obtain the means 



380 THE LAND OF THE CJESAR AND THE DOGE. 

of livelihood. Just after sunset we passed the brilliant 
square of St. Mark, which was lighted up with a full blaze of 
beauty, lamp-light, and the rising moon ; and when we returned 
from our evening stroll on the piazza, coy Luna shone in all 
the splendor of her fullness, sprinkling the waters with the 
sparkles of her smiles, and illuminating the walls of the 
palaces on the sides of the canal, with alternate floods of 
bronze and argent. 

Oh ! gondolas, ye are the moving spirits of Yenice ; What 
graceful postures and figures have your gondoliers ! 

THE GALLERY OF FINE ARTS. 
LVI. 

The Academy of Fine Arts at Venice is an inestimable in- 
stitution or asylum in the midst of the dispersion and decay of 
so many chefs-d^-mivres as would otherwise be lost, were it not 
for the establishment of this hospital of art. It has already 
collected many works from the oppressed churches and con- 
vents, and will doubtless be still serviceable in the advancing 
ruin of Yenice. This rich collection of more than four hun- 
dred paintings, consists almost entirely of works by the great 
masters of the Yenetian school — a school, admirable rather 
for its adherence to nature and truth than the ideal, and for 
brilliancy of coloring, boldness, and the picturesque rather 
than purity of drawing. 

LVII. 

Amid the decay of Yenice, the discovery of Titian's master- 
piece, the Assumjption, which he executed before the age of 
thirty, is a kind of compensation for so many losses. This 



Titian's master-piece, 381 

painting is, perhaps, the most extraordinary for effect ; the 
wonderful management of the lights, the mystery of the head 
of the Father, the brilliancy and softness of the group of the 
Yirgin, and thirty little angels near ; her heavenly grace and 
etherial elevation into the infinity of the skies ; the marvelous 
contrast of light and shade ; and the conception of the whole, 
are different merits, that cannot be described. One appre- 
ciates Titian fully in this gallery, where he claims his rank 
among the first of the old masters. His St. John is preferable 
to that of Raphael, and depicts the sublimity of his mission in 
the spiritual elevation of the eyes, as those of man prophetic 
of a higher destiny ; one who foresaw the exceeding glory of 
his successor, of whom he was only the forerunner, to prepare 
the way, and " whose shoe's latchet he was unworthy to un- 
loose." His " JPrese7itation" is noble, and distinguishable for 
its perspective. 

LVIII. 

The Academy of Fine Arts is in the old Confraternity of 
Charity. The ceiling of the grand hall is connected with a 
singular anecdote : — The brother Cherubino Ottale, who had 
engaged to gild it at his own expense, being unable to obtain 
permission of the brotherhood to have an inscription, stating 
that they were indebted to him for that magnificence, ordered 
a little angel of eight wings to be placed in the middle of 
every square, so that the name of Cherubino Ottale is repeated 
a thousand times in that way. A Frenchman could not have 
imagined a better expedient of Venetian vanity. 



382 THE LAND OF THE CAESAR AND THE DOGE. 



THE ARSENAL. 
LIX. 

The Arsenal of Yenice was one of its wonders, its boast, 
and its most glorious and useful monuments. The fleets which 
it constructed, in combatting and repelling the continual in- 
vasions of the Turks, preserved the civilization of Italy and 
the south of Europe. It is, at this day, only a magnificent 
testimony of the decline of Yenice. How it differs, in its soli- 
tude, from that arsenal so admirably painted by Dante, who, 
in his description, has introduced the naval technicalities, and 
rendered them harmonious, poetic, and imitative — so great 
were the descriptive powers of this prodigious genius ! 

" Qual neir arzana, de Veneziani 

Bolle rinverno la tenace pece 

A rimpalmar li legni lor non sani 

Che navicar non ponno ; e'n quella vece, 

Chi fa suo legno nuovo, e cM ristoppa 

Le coste a quel che piu viaggi fece ; 
Chi ribatte da proda, e chi da poppa, 

Altri fa rami, ed altri Tolge sarte, 
Chi terzeruolo ed artimon rintoppa." 

LX. 

Many different mementoes of Yenice are to be found in the 
arsenal. There is the pretended helmet of Attila, and the 
sort of clumsy harness for his horse ; the veritable helmets of 
the Yenetian Crusaders, the companions of Dandalo ; the 
arms and flowing standards of brilliant colors, taken from the 
Turks at the battle of Lepanto, and some frightful instruments 



THE SAILOR HERO. 383 



of torture used by the Inquisition. A little model of the Bu- 
centaur is now kept in one of the small rooms. 

The plain and solid armor of Henry lY. forcibly recalls the 
beautiful verse of the Henriade upon the arms of his soldiers : — 
" Leur fer, et leurs mousquets composaient leurs parures." 

LXI. 

Opposite the armor of Henry IV. is the cenotaph, erected 
by the Senate of Yenice, to the high-admiral Angelo-Emo, 
who died at Malta in It 92, one of the first and best executed 
works of Canova. In the midst of the universal degeneracy 
of Yenetian morals, Emo proved himself a citizen. It was he 
who, after the dispersion of his fleet by a tempest at Eleos, 
and the loss of two vessels, a disaster in which Emo, having 
fallen into the sea, narrowly escaped drowning, came to the 
senate and said, " Allow my property to be employed in re- 
pairing the losses the republic has just experienced." 

LXII. 

This great man might probably have prevented the igno- 
miny of the last moments of his country. Courage and honor, 
extinct in the councils of the Republic, still survived in the 
arsenal ; and, as if the element which first afforded refuge to 
the founders of Yenice was ever to animate, excite, and re- 
invigorate their descendants, the last of the Yenetians was a 
sailor ! 

LXIII. 

" In Venice Tasso's echoes are no more, 
And silent rows the songless gondolier ; 
Her palaces are crumbling to the shore, 
And music meets not always now the ear : 



384 



THE LAND OF THE CiESAR AXD THE DOGE. 



Those days are gone — but Beauty still is here ; 

States fall, arts fade — but Nature doth not die. 
Nor yet forget that Venice once was dear. 
The pleasant place of all festivity, 
The revel of the earth, the masque of Italy !" 



LXIV. 



"How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of sea-faring 
men, the renowned city, which was strong in the sea ! 

" The isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy de- 
parture." — Ezekiel xxY\. It, 18. 




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